Troubled Water
by Litta
Summary: Professor Xavier discovers a new mutant. Though she resists at first, she soon becomes a part of the events that affect the X-Men. OCxColossus.
1. Chapter 1

Miranda sat in the car, staring out the dirty window at the lake. She took in the water's smooth surface and the light mist still on top. Her eyes then began drifting, looking at the other abandoned cars in the dirt lot, all broken beyond repair. Some had been raided for their useful parts to be sold in a car shop. But now she looked at the cars without seeing them.

Her money had run out a three days ago, and her food two days ago. She was hungry and living in an abandoned car because she couldn't go home. Her former means of earning money had ended badly and abruptly, but she wasn't going to think about that. No, she'd think about anything but that. She pulled her jacket tighter around her to try and keep warm, curling up against the driver's door to get into a semi-comfortable position. She'd been up all night again thanks to the nightmare, but now that it was starting to get light, she felt like she might be able to get some sleep. As she closed her eyes, she heard a car pull up, its headlights shining in her eyes.

It stopped several feet away, but was facing her car. As she watched, two adults got out of the front seats, one man and one woman. The woman got a wheelchair from the back of the car and the man helped another man, an older man, into the wheelchair. Next, she watched with growing apprehension as they approached the car she was in. The three spoke briefly, and then the woman came to her side of the car and tapped on the window, motioning for her to exit the car.

Miranda knew that if they wanted to hurt her, they'd get her out of the car one way or another, and if by some chance they only wanted to talk, she'd better get it over with so they'd leave. The woman, who'd returned to her group, had white hair, but appeared younger than she would have thought, maybe only in her late thirties. The younger man was wearing some sort of visor over his eyes, but otherwise appeared normal, even attractive. The man in the wheelchair was wearing a nice suit and had a kind face, but she wouldn't let that fool her for a second.

"Hello, Miranda. I'm Professor Xavier, and this is Scott and Storm." Scott reached out his hand to her, but she only crossed her arms in front of her and leaned back against the car she called home. She watched as he awkwardly returned his hand to his pocket. "We're not here to hurt you."

"What do you want?" she asked icily.

"We're here to help you."

"I don't need you're help," she cut in. He nodded and seemed to think for a moment before continuing.

"I run a school for mutants, where they can learn together in a safe environment, away from people in society who would ridicule and hurt them. I came to offer you a place in my school."

"What makes you think I'd want to go to a school for freaks?" She noticed the professor's eyes glance behind her, and she could feel the mist from the lake traveling towards them.

"Mutants are not freaks, though some would have you believe that. At this school, I, along with the help of a few others, help mutants learn to control their abilities and teach them how to use them for good. We want to help these students develop into individuals who will contribute to society and hopefully diminish the prejudices against mutants."

"That sounds great and all, but I'm not interested, so thanks for dropping by, but you can go now."

"Please," Storm said, taking a step towards Miranda, "come to the school and see for yourself what it's like there. We can help you learn to control your powers."

"Look, I don't need your help. I'm doing just fine on my own, so you can get back in your fancy car and go back to your fancy school for mutants."

"You call living in a car doing fine?" Scott asked. She balled her fists in anger, but kept them crossed firmly in front of her.

"Compared to what my life has been in the past, yes, I call living in a car fine. And who are you to lecture me on my standard of life, when you live in some special school and take everything for granted, like food, water, clothes, and a decent bed?"

The mist from the lake had now surrounded them, and was gradually solidifying into water. Miranda's hands shot up, causing the water to burst around them, drenching them. She motioned for the water to return to the lake, but it remained in the air, hovering around them. Her eyes darted from the group of three to the water surrounding them, panic written on her face. Then Storm raised her arms and, after a moment, the water returned to the lake. Miranda stared at her.

"Storm can control the elements," the professor said. He also briefly explained Scott's power and his own telepathic abilities. "Please, I think you could benefit from my school. There are others there with troubled pasts who we've helped to deal with those unpleasant memories."

Miranda wondered if he was reading her mind, looking through her memories to see what kind of person she was. She knew if he dug around long enough, he'd find enough evidence to make him withdraw his offer and drive away as quickly as possible. Sighing, she tried to take the bitter edge off her voice in an attempt to sound more polite, which would hopefully make them listen to her.

"I'm sure your school is a nice place, and maybe you do help mutants, but it's not for me."

"How long has it been since you last ate?" the professor asked her, catching her off guard.

"That's none of your business," she snapped.

"What if I make you a deal? If you come with me and take a look at the school, I'll give you a decent meal and even give you food to take with you if you choose not to stay. What do you say to that?"

Miranda considered his proposition. Sure, she was hungry. She hadn't eaten in two days. But how did she know if this man would keep his promise and give her a good meal, let alone food to take with her? What if they were lying altogether and were planning on locking her away forever, as some scientific specimen to be dissected and examined? She didn't trust Scott at all, and she wasn't sure how much she trusted this professor, though there was something about him that invoked a sense of trust. But Storm she wanted to know. She had a similar power. Perhaps this woman could help her learn to control her power.

She knew they were waiting for an answer, but she hadn't made up her mind. If they wanted to lock her away, they probably would have brought an army and would have taken her by force already. So her choice was to go with them and see this school for mutants, and at the very least get some food, or stay in her car and starve while she continued to try and find work. Despite her misgivings, she knew which response she needed to give.

"Fine, I'll come with you."

It took two hours to get to the school. Scott drove, Storm sat next to him, and Miranda sat in back next to the professor. He tried to engage her in a conversation at first, but after several unsuccessful attempts gave up. They rode in silence most of the way, the silence only broken when Scott turned on the radio to listen to the news. When they did arrive at the school, Miranda stared out the window at the mansion looming ahead of them.

She envied the students who lived in the mansion. The architecture was beautiful. The grounds were immaculate. She spotted ponds and fountains scattered around, and thought she spotted a basketball court around the side. When they pulled into the garage, she couldn't believe the nice cars they had, and all appeared in excellent condition. She even spotted a motorcycle at the far end. Once inside, the wonders didn't cease. Scott and Storm disappeared, but the professor remained next to Miranda, who stood staring at the beautiful interior.

"Shall I give you a tour?" he said, gesturing with his hand. She nodded, trying not to look too impressed. She still wasn't planning on staying any longer than it took to get the food he'd promised.

He explained about the classes they taught, all the normal subjects and a few mutant-specific classes. They rarely ate meals together, only on special occasions because of the size of the school and the amount of preparation needed for such a large meal. He pointed out the kitchen, classrooms, recreation room, and told her upstairs were all the living quarters. He also told her that some of the students' parents didn't know their children were mutants and only thought of the school as a prep school. He started to take her outside to show her the grounds, but stopped. Miranda looked at him, confused. He seemed to be staring at nothing but concentrating very hard on something.

"Miranda, I'm afraid something's come up that needs my attention." He motioned to a girl just coming down the stairs. "Kitty, come here a moment please." The girl walked over to them. "Kitty, this is Miranda. I was giving her a tour of the mansion but I must look into something. Could you finish showing her around?" Kitty nodded, and the professor wheeled away.

"So you're new here?" Kitty asked as they walked outside.

"No, I–" Miranda faltered, unsure how to answer the question. "The professor offered to let me join his school and is giving me a tour, but I'm not staying."

"Why not?"

"Because I don't want to."

Kitty seemed to take the hint and dropped the subject. She focused on showing her around the grounds outside. They went back inside and Kitty decided to meet up with her friends in the living room. With nothing else to do, Miranda followed.

"Hey guys, sorry I'm late. This is Miranda. Miranda, this is Bobby, Rogue, John, and Pete. We get together on the weekends to study and work on homework together." Miranda didn't give much of a greeting, having no intention of staying long enough for it to matter.

"Hi Miranda, welcome to Mutant High," Bobby told her. He extended his arm, but she stared him down. He slowly retracted his arm and sat back down next to Rogue, glancing questioningly at Kitty.

"She's not a new student," Kitty told them, "the Professor's just giving her a tour. He had to go do something though and asked me to finish."

"Why's he giving you a tour if you're not a student?" John asked, glancing briefly at her.

"He offered to let me be a student here, but I don't want to stay."

"How come?"

"I just don't, okay."

"Why, you think you're better than us?" She glared at him openly now.

"No, I just don't want to go to a school for mutants, that's all."

"You're a mutant too, unless the Professor's started taking in normal people. What's wrong, are you ashamed to be a mutant?"

Now her temper flared, and before she could stop it, the water in the nearest vase exploded from it, causing the vase to shatter. The group shouted and scattered away from the mess. Miranda tried to focus on stopping the water, but she couldn't control it. The water continued spinning out of control, getting all the furniture wet. Suddenly Bobby stretched out his arm and she watched as he turned the stream of water into an icicle, which promptly fell to the ground. Miranda stood there petrified.

"What's going on here?" someone asked from behind her. She turned to see a pretty red-headed woman staring at all of them. She was looking in particular at Miranda.

"It was an accident," Bobby said. He said nothing more, but he looked at Miranda, as if wanting her to explain what happened.

"It's alright Jean," Miranda heard the professor say, watching him wheel into view. "Miranda is a visitor I brought to the mansion. She must have lost control of her power." He looked at Miranda, who nodded once and dropped her gaze. "Miranda, why don't you come with me."

She followed behind him, thankful to leave the group of people behind, but worried about what the professor would do to her. He would surely be mad about the damage she had caused his furniture, so she assumed that meant she wouldn't be getting that food after all. She followed him into his office, and shut the door behind her as he asked.

"You needn't worry about the furniture. Accidents happen around her more often than you might believe, and a little water is an easy fix compared to some. How did the rest of your tour go with Kitty?"

"It was fine." She looked anywhere but at him.

"Miranda, you really don't need to worry about losing control of your power, I only wish you could see that I truly want to help you." Miranda rolled her eyes, but said nothing. She heard him sigh. "Well, come with me to the kitchen and we'll see what we kind find in there to send home with you." Miranda whipped her head around to stare at him.

"You mean, you're still going to give me food?"

"Of course, I told you I would."

Miranda followed him to the kitchen, beginning to wonder what sort of man he was. None of the men in her life were remotely like him at all. He was kind and honest, and forgave her for the damage she'd caused. She watched as she had Jean help him get food out of the pantry for her to take with her, putting it all in a nice knapsack for her to keep.

"I do wish you would stay," he told her as he handed her the bag full of food. "If you ever change your mind, these doors will always be open to you. Jean will take you back, or wherever you want to go."

Miranda felt the beginnings of a lump form in her throat as she swallowed. He was being so nice to her. In fact, other than John, everyone had been nice to her. She thought about going back to the car she called home, with no heat, no real bed, no money, and no food aside from what she'd been given. She had nothing to go back to. At least here she had a chance at a new start. After giving all her options one more thought, she set down the bag of food.

"On second thought, maybe I'll give this mutant school thing a shot."


	2. Chapter 2

Miranda was placed in Rogue's room, and she awkwardly explained that she'd changed her mind and decided to attend the school. The professor had her meet with the teachers to see where she stood in schooling. They decided she was a little behind the other students, having dropped out of school for a little over a month, but could catch up quickly with some help. So she was now in a room with Kitty and Peter who were supposed to help her with the work she'd been given to catch her up.

Kitty helped her improve her English and grammar and showed her the major things she'd missed in history. Peter was supposed to help her with math and science, but she was having a difficult time with him. She insisted on sitting across the table from him, next to Kitty. She was quick to give him her opinion, but refused to ask questions, which caused their time to go even longer because he had to explain things more than once. Finally they decided to quit for the day and start again tomorrow.

"Why don't you like Pete?" Kitty asked after the young man had left.

"Because he's a guy." Before either girl could say more, Jean and Storm appeared.

The professor had asked them to take Miranda shopping for clothes and other necessities. Kitty offered to go with, jumping at the chance to get out of the mansion for a little while, so Jean let her take her place and remained at the mansion to spend time with Scott. Kitty helped Miranda find several outfits that looked good, but Miranda still purchased a majority of jeans and tank tops. They spent a few hours shopping, so when they returned to the mansion it was time for dinner.

That night, Miranda fell asleep instantly, tired from all the events of the day and comfortable in her new bed. She woke up early the next morning, but stayed in bed for a few hours, just enjoying the feel of sleeping in a proper bed again. When Rogue got up, she had no choice but to do likewise. Rogue said little, and Miranda wondered if the girl might be upset with her for some reason. Wanting this school situation to work, she decided to suck up her pride long enough to try and smooth things over.

"Hey, Rogue, is something wrong?" she asked hesitantly when the other girl was brushing her hair. Rogue continued brushing while she answered.

"No."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes." Fed up, she gave up being polite.

"Look, if there's something about me that's bothering you, just tell me so we can get past it."

"I just don't appreciate the way you treated Bobby yesterday, or any of us for that matter." Rogue set down the brushed and turned around to face Miranda.

"It's nothing personal." She held up her hands in what she hoped to be an apologetic gesture.

Rogue nodded but said no more, so Miranda left in search of breakfast. Upon reaching the kitchen, she found John sitting with a bowl of cereal in front of him. He glanced up at her when she entered, but then let his gaze fall back to his meal. She ignored him and made herself some toast. She also poured herself a glass of orange juice before sitting down at the table, at the other end from John.

"What, don't want to sit by me?" he asked her. She ignored him and continued eating. "And you don't want to talk to me either. I heard you're getting help with some catch up work 'cause you're behind us all in school. Did you get kicked out of your last school because you're a mutant or were you just too stupid so you dropped out on your own?"

"What is your problem?" she yelled at him across the table.

"You. You come in here and act like you don't need any of this, but then here you are, the Professor's new charity case, coming to the freak school like all the rest of us."

"I'm not a freak!"

"News flash: according to the world, we're all freaks; you, me, everyone in this school."

"If you hate it so much, why are _you_ here?"

"I don't have anywhere else to go," he told her. "But that's my own choice. They didn't find me living in a car, starving."

"You don't know anything about me, so just shut up!"

Miranda was now standing up, her hands gripping the table. Water from John's glass flew to her, and she pulled it into a ball in her hand. She watched as he stood, a smirk appearing on his face. He pulled a lighter from his pocket and used it to create a ball of fire in his own hand. They stood like that, staring at each other, waiting for the other to make the first move. Miranda couldn't wait any longer, wanting to wipe that smirk off his face, so she extended her water towards him like a whip. He ducked and threw a fire ball at her, which she dodged by jumping to the side.

"John, Miranda, stop it!" They turned and saw Scott standing in the doorway. Miranda imagined he would be glaring at them if she could see his eyes. "John, you know better than to fight with your powers in the house. Save it for the Danger Room. Miranda, we don't allow sparing in the house, to try and avoid damage," he told her, sounding like he was talking to a child.

She hated being told what to do, but didn't want to get kicked out of the school. She quickly returned the water to John's glass, put her dishes in the dishwasher, and then left the room. She headed back up to her room to shower and cool off. Once she was dressed, she went outside. A long walk would allow her to clear her head.

She thought about her argument with John. How had he known about her living in a car? Obviously someone had said something about it. There were only four people who knew, assuming the Professor would tell Jean about her circumstances. She knew it couldn't have been the professor, and nor did the women seem likely to spill her personal information, which left Scott. She hadn't liked the man since her first meeting with him. He seemed the type to want to appear smarter than others, like he wanted to be the professor's right hand man, the second in command. Perhaps he had been the one to tell Jean, and had been within hearing distance of students. That was possible. She wasn't aware of how long she'd been out walking until Pete came up beside her, startling her.

"Hey, are you still going to work with Kitty and me today?" he asked her.

"Yeah, sorry," she said stiffly. She walked inside with him, aware of the awkward silence, but refusing to do anything to make him more comfortable.

Kitty had little left to help her with, only a few more historical events and their details. She then left to go play a card game with Rogue and Bobby. Pete was left to help Miranda catch up in science. They'd managed to finish up with math the previous day, though Miranda wasn't sure how much she remembered. She could tell Pete was getting frustrated with her, and part of her felt bad, but another part of her enjoyed frustrating him.

Pushing those thoughts aside, she tried once again to focus on what he was showing her. They were on the last chapter. Once they finished this, she'd be able to go to the classes and learn at the same level as everyone else, rather than having to have special classes or attend a lower level class. But try as they might, Miranda just didn't understand. Finally, Pete asked her to wait while he disappeared for a moment. When he came back, Storm was with him. As the school's science teacher, Storm knew all about the subject and was able to help Miranda understand the material. Miranda thanked her and headed back up to her room.

She avoided people for the rest of the day, preferring to spend time memorizing the layout of the school so she'd never get lost. The following day, she arrived just barely on time to class. Kitty had saved her a seat, which she slid into gratefully. She was prepared for all her classes except science. As she feared, she hadn't retained most of the information she'd been given over the weekend. She scribbled furiously throughout class, trying to write down as much of the lesson as she could. After class, Pete approached her.

"I saw you taking notes during class. It looked like you were having some trouble. Do you want any help?"

"No thanks." She quickened her step and rejoined Kitty in the crowd, leaving Pete behind.

She ate lunch with Kitty, sitting outside under a tree enjoying the breeze. They talked about classes and homework, but then Kitty mentioned going to a Danger Room session that night. Miranda immediately asked what that was, so Kitty explained. Neither of them knew what Miranda would do, so they sought out the professor and asked him.

"I thought you would join Kitty's group," he told them. "You already know everyone who will be there, so it might be easier than putting you by yourself or in another group. Is that okay with you?"

Miranda nodded and then she and Kitty left. She spent the afternoon worrying about the Danger Room session. Apparently the group spent a few nights every week training themselves to use their minds, bodies, and powers to defeat opponents and complete simulations. Tonight would be different since Miranda would be with them. They were going to do an easier simulation to break her in and get her used to using her powers with the others. Also, she would get to see the others use their powers. Apparently Jean would be running their session tonight.

"So you're going to join our training group?" Bobby asked when she showed up that night. Everyone else was already there.

"That's why I'm here, isn't it?" she said testily. She was nervous, and that always made her temper flare.

"Okay," Kitty said, wanting to avoid tension, "why don't we all explain our powers to Miranda since she's new, so she knows what to expect. I can walk through solid objects." To illustrate, she walked through a wall, disappeared, and then came back.

"I can create ice and freeze things, but you've already seen me do it," Bobby told her. She remembered when he'd frozen the stream of water she'd sent flying around the room when she first met all of them.

"I borrow other people's powers by touching their skin," Rogue told her. "That's why I always wear gloves." Miranda made a mental note to never let Rogue touch her. Unable to control her own powers, she didn't want to think about what would happen if Rogue borrowed them.

"I can turn my entire body into metal," Pete told her. To show her, he transformed himself in front of her.

"You already know what I can do," John told her. She nodded, remembering their fight the day before. Everyone then looked at Miranda, waiting for her to explain her power.

"Oh, I can manipulate water."

"Is everyone ready?" Jean asked as she entered the room. Everyone but Miranda nodded. "Good. I've programmed an easier simulation tonight, to ease Miranda into these training sessions. In this exercise, you will be split up into two teams of three. To make it easy, we've made the teams boys versus girls. Each of you will wear one of these targets," she held up a painted target connected to a string to hang around their neck. "The goal is to obtain all three of the other team's targets. Powers are allowed, though you're to avoid hurting anyone." Jean looked pointedly at John. "Any questions?"

No one had questions, though Miranda wasn't sure what exactly she would do. She hung her target around her neck like the others and then followed them into the Danger Room. She noticed it was a very large, round room, covered with blue-ish tiles and bathed in a soft light that also seemed almost blue. She watched as the three boys walked to the other side of the room and huddled together, obviously forming some sort of strategy. Kitty and Rogue motioned for her to join them.

"Okay, Rogue is going to borrow my power so we can phase through the guys and hopefully get their targets from behind them. Miranda, do you think you can handle keeping them busy with your power?"

Miranda nodded and gave them a confident smile, though she felt less confident than she looked. The teams faced each other, and on Jean's command, the "battle" began. Rogue had already touched Kitty to get her power, so the two immediately began running towards the boys. Bobby and John fired their elements at the pair, but they just phased through the attacks. Kitty phased through John first and tried to get his target, but he spun away from her and threw fire in her direction. Pete then came up behind her and tried to grab her target, but she phased through him. Rogue meanwhile had tried the same approach with Bobby, which ended with the same result. Unable to grab his target, she backed away. Miranda then went to work. Gathering moisture from around her into a small ball of water, she sent it flying like a whip towards John and Pete. John tried to retaliate with his fire, which ended in a deadlock. Kitty took the moment and ripped John's target from behind, then quickly ran away before she could get caught. While keeping the water shooting towards John, Miranda sent water in the shape of a boomerang towards Bobby. He was thrown off balance, but then froze her boomerang and grabbed Rogue's target while she was distracted.

Pete had run after Kitty, who was just barely staying ahead of him. Bobby noticed the pair and froze the ground in front of them. Kitty slipped and Pete grabbed her target before he lost his balance and fell to on the floor as well. John stopped throwing fire at Miranda suddenly, as she realized Pete was running towards her. He was closing in on her fast, and suddenly she wasn't looking at Pete running to steal her target, but her old partner when they fought after their last job. Repeating the same defensive action, she threw her hands out in front her and wished he'd stop coming towards her. She heard everyone gasp, so she looked to see what had happened. Pete was suspended in air, unable to move. No one moved. Then Pete transformed into his metal form, and he fell to the ground, able to move again. Miranda realized she couldn't control the water in his body anymore because he was made of metal at the moment. Frozen in shock, Pete took one step forward, reached out, and took her target, ending the session.


	3. Chapter 3

The others congratulated her on completing her first Danger Room session, but Miranda barely registered their praise. Even when Jean commented on her ability to form water from the moisture around her and control it so well, she merely nodded. As soon as she was able, she disappeared to her room. The memory Pete stirred up had shaken her. It was part of her past that she didn't like to think about. She was in bed when Rogue entered the room, but she pretended to be asleep. It didn't take long for her to fall asleep, but it was marred by a familiar nightmare.

_He was yelling at her. Their argument continued, neither willing to give in to the other. She knew he was wrong and wanted him to admit it. But then he started beating her. Every blow was felt physically and emotionally. He wasn't beating just her body, but her very spirit as well. Finally she could take no more. She held up her hands to block the oncoming blow, but it didn't come. Cautiously, she peered through her hands and saw him unable to move. Somehow, she had managed to control all the water in his body, keeping him from moving unless she stopped. He demanded she release him, but she knew if she did he'd only start beating her again. They argued some more, and he continued to yell at her, which only served to further infuriate her. Finally, she'd had enough. She'd knock him out like she had the guards, take all their money, and run away. She'd never have to see him or rob another place again. But her power was spiraling out of her control. Instead of knocking him out, her power pulled all the moisture from his body and surrounded her with it. With no more water to control him with, his lifeless body dropped to the ground with a sickening thud. Terrified and repulsed at what she'd done, she ran._

"MIRANDA!"

Miranda woke as someone yelled her name and shook her furiously. Jean immediately pointed towards Rogue. A bubble of water surrounded the girl's head and was causing her to drown. Miranda quickly forced the water to fall to the floor, soaking the carpet and part of Rogue's bed sheets. She noticed that besides Jean, the professor was also in their room.

"Rogue, I'm sorry, I didn't do it on purpose, I swear," Miranda said quickly, wishing she could do more than simply apologize.

Rogue simply glared at her and followed Jean outside. She knew the girl would spend the rest of the night with Kitty, and no doubt everyone would know what happened by the time classes started in the morning.

"What happened, Professor?" she asked when they were the only two left in the room.

"I heard Rogue's mental terror through my telepathy, since she was unable to scream out loud. I then alerted Jean, who ran into the room to find out what was going on. When she saw Rogue struggling with the water and you still sleeping, she woke you so you could remove the water from around Rogue's head."

"Professor, you know I would never do something like that, right? It was an accident, I swear."

"I know," he told her calmly. "Obviously your subconscious was troubled and therefore, I assume, trying to relieve itself by manipulating water. Why it chose to wrap that water around Rogue's head, I do not know." Miranda looked down, thinking about the dream she'd had. "Miranda, is there something you're not telling me?" She stared at the bed for a few minutes, not wanting to say anything, but then she sighed and told him about her dream. "Hmm, that's very interesting. It seems that this dream you had may have caused your powers to act on your subconscious emotions. I think you should start meeting with me in the afternoons privately, if you want, and we can discuss this event from your past, and any other things you might want to talk about. I find it helpful to talk with someone else when dealing with unpleasant memories."

He left her to think about it. Miranda laid back down in her bed, but was unable to go to sleep. She worried what Rogue had told Kitty. What if they no longer wanted to be her friend? What if they thought she was dangerous because she couldn't control her power? What if she never learned to control her power? What would happen to her? Would the professor kick her out because she was a danger to the rest of the students? He had every right to protect them. More questions kept coming until finally she couldn't take it any more. She got dressed and went for a walk outside. She stayed out there until morning.

Upon entering the kitchen to eat breakfast, she saw that Rogue and Bobby were already in there sitting at the table. They looked up when she entered. Rogue's eyes were red and puffy from crying, which made Miranda feel horrible. Rather than making things any more awkward, she left the kitchen and went to her room. Skipping breakfast wouldn't kill her.

As she suspected, everyone had heard about the incident by the time her first class started. She knew people were staring at her, but she kept her head down and focused on the lessons. When it came time for lunch, she waited until everyone had already grabbed their food and just grabbed a granola bar from the cabinet. She was still hoping to avoid everyone, and that included avoiding the kitchen as much as possible. Once her last class ended, she grabbed her books and practically flew out of the room. She waited for everyone to exit the professor's office before entering for her first private session with him.

"Good afternoon, Miranda." She nodded her greeting and sat down on the edge of one of the empty chairs. "Have you made your decision concerning my offer?"

"Yes. I'll give it a try."

"Good. If it's alright with you, I'd like to further discuss the events from your dream last night."

Miranda tensed, but nodded. She was nervous. She never talked about her past, didn't even like to think about it. Her past was painful, and it was the reason she ended up living in a car because she couldn't go home. But the professor seemed to want to help her, so she would talk about it if he thought it would help her.

"I met the man, Murphy, when I was sleeping on a bench, homeless and broke. He was nice and agreed to let me stay in his apartment while I searched for a job. But then I found out about his job, which was a professional thief. I ended up becoming his partner after he convinced me I would be a big help to him. I was stupid, letting my feelings for him get in the way of common sense. I should have turned him in, or at the very least left his apartment right away. But I didn't. I started going out to rob stores with him. First I started by distraction anyone who came by long enough for Murphy to sneak up behind them and knock them out. Gradually I started helping more. Soon I was the one knocking out guards using my powers. He was only robbing small stores, pawn shops and the like. But then his friend gave him a big job, robbing a museum.

"I wasn't happy about it, and I told Murphy as much. It was more dangerous and I didn't want to get caught. He refused to listen to me though. He said I was just scared. He knew I liked him," she blushed as she admitted such personal feelings to the professor, but with an encouraging smile, he gestured for her to continue, "and he used those feelings against me. He manipulated me. So I went along. But then he robbed a bank, and that's when things went bad. I refused to help him, so he began beating me and wouldn't stop until I agreed to go with him. I'm not physically strong, so I couldn't protect myself unless I used my powers, and I didn't want to hurt him. After a few more times of robbing banks, we robbed another museum. This time though, he shot the guards after I'd already knocked them out. That's when we got into our argument."

Miranda felt the tears form in her eyes, so when the professor looked away briefly, she quickly rubbed them out. She wouldn't look like a stupid, emotional girl in front of the professor.

"I'm sorry you had to go through that." She looked at him, and all she saw was genuine sorrow for her pain. It was a new experience. No one had ever shown such kindness to her before without expecting something in return, nor had been so kind to her. Not for the first time, she wondered if her mother would have loved her as much as the professor seemed to care about her.

The professor decided to stop for the day, saying she probably had homework to do. He promised her that he would tell no one else what she'd told him without specific permission from her. She thanked him for that and then left his office. As she climbed the stairs on the way to her room, she lost the balance of her books and they toppled down the stairs. Before she could reach them, Pete appeared and picked them up for her.

"Thanks," she said coldly.

"You're welcome." He paused a moment and then spoke again. "Hey, I heard about what happened with Rogue last night."

"What about it?"

"Have you talked with her about it? I mean, she was pretty shaken up, but I think you ought to talk to her, maybe explain what happened."

"I don't need your advice, okay, so just leave me alone." She quickly walked the rest of the way up the stairs and shut herself in her room.

Rogue spent another night in Kitty's room. Miranda spent the night tossing and turning in her sleep, images from her past invading her dreams. Early in the morning, she woke up and couldn't go back to sleep. This time she got food from the kitchen for breakfast so she wouldn't have to skip the meal altogether.

The day passed in much the same way as the previous, the only difference being that Miranda spent it all worrying about the Danger Room session that night. She would have to be around Rogue, see the hurt in her face and constantly be reminded how out of control her powers had gotten that night.

Scott was running their session this time. Unlike last time, now they had specific targets that would appear throughout the simulation that they had to destroy. At the same time, they were supposed to be moving forward towards some kind of end goal. Each time targets appeared, there would be six, one for each of the teens. That didn't mean that each person had to destroy one target each time, but each person was supposed to destroy at least one target by the end. Miranda paled when she heard these targets were programmed to defend themselves, albeit poorly.

Scott sounded the start of the session and everyone moved forward. Miranda was amazed as the Danger Room transformed into what appeared to be a forest, complete with sounds and smells. It seemed that even as they continued to move forward, and Miranda knew they had to be drawing close to the edge of the room, they never hit a wall. She couldn't figure out how they managed that, but she decided she'd better focus on the targets that suddenly appeared. Bobby immediately took out one, freezing it before it could aim its small gun at anything. Pete smashed two, John set two others on fire, and Rogue borrowed Bobby's power long enough to freeze the last one.

There were five sets of targets that had to be destroyed before they reached the end. For the next three, Miranda watched as the others always destroyed the targets quickly and she was spared having to use her power. She knew on this last set she was supposed to take one out in order to complete the simulation, but she was worried. What if she lost control of her power? Or what if she couldn't get it to work and she was hit by the target? The thought of using her power worried her, and she didn't want to use it, but she didn't have the physical strength like Pete to destroy them without her power.

As the last set appeared, one of the targets appeared directly in front of her. She watched as its small gun aimed at her, preparing to defend itself. Her arms stayed locked by her side and her brain seemed to slow down. She needed to do something. She needed to form her usual water whip and destroy the target, but she couldn't. She didn't want anyone to get hurt. The gun prepared to fire, and Miranda stood frozen, waiting for it to hit her. Before it fired, Rogue appeared, covered in metal like Pete, and smashed it. Then the simulation ended and the Danger Room reappeared.

"The point was to destroy the target, not wait for it to hit you," John said, coming up behind her.

"I know what the point was," she spat at him, walking quickly out of the room. As she exited, she came face to face with Rogue, who stood waiting for Bobby. "Rogue . . . I'm really sorry about what happened before. I promise, I would never do that on purpose."

Rogue merely nodded but said nothing. Miranda then left, not wanting to hear Scott tell her what she'd done wrong. She hurried up to her room and closed the door, partly wishing she'd never come to this school, and partly wishing she knew some way to get Rogue to forgive her. As she got ready for bed, someone knocked on the door. To her surprise, she found Rogue standing outside.

"Hi," Rogue said uncertainly.

"Hi. Look, I am really sorry about what happened. I lost control of my power somehow, I was asleep, but I would never do that to you, you have to believe me."

"I know. I–" she halted a moment. "I know you didn't do it on purpose. It just freaked me out, you know? I mean, that's one of the scariest things that's ever happened to me."

"So, do you forgive me?" Miranda waited, hoping for a miracle.

"Yeah." Miranda smiled and gave the girl a hug. "Can I sleep in my room again?" Miranda nodded and let the other girl in.

"You said it's 'one' of the scariest things that's ever happened to you? What could be scarier?"

Rogue sat down next to Miranda on her bed and shared the story of her encounter with Magneto and the events surrounding the Ellis Island incident. Miranda recalled hearing briefly about the strange things that had happened, but had never thought much about them. They stayed up late talking, but when they did finally go to bed, Miranda fell asleep immediately and had pleasant dreams all through the night.


	4. Chapter 4

Thursday and Friday passed swiftly. Friday night they completed another Danger Room session. Jean ran this one, but it was the same simulation as last time. And once again, Miranda froze, this time saved by Bobby freezing the target before it shot her. She ignored their questions. That night, Kitty joined her and Rogue in their room for a sort of girls sleepover. They stayed up late, eating junk food, watching movies, and talking about all sorts of things. Around midnight, their conversation turned more serious.

"How come you haven't been using your powers in the Danger Room?" Kitty asked her.

Miranda knew she couldn't outright ignore the question, but she didn't want to talk about it either. She tried shrug it off and asked what movie they wanted to watch next, but Kitty persisted and asked her again.

"I just don't want to, that's all."

"Come on, you can tell us," Rogue said softly from Miranda's other side. "Are you afraid?" Miranda sighed, frustrated, but answered anyway.

"Yes, I'm scared. I'm afraid I'll lose control of my power and hurt someone."

"But that's what these training sessions are for," Kitty told her, "to learn to control our powers. I mean, when I first started phasing, I would wake up halfway through my bed, with my feet hanging in the room below. But now I can phase whenever I want and it won't happen when I don't want it to, like when I'm sleeping at night."

"But you remember what happened to Rogue, right? I was sleeping but I almost killed her. And I've lost control when I'm awake too. How can I learn to control it if I lose control before I even do anything?"

"But you're not going to learn anything unless you use your power," Rogue said softly. "Your power is really strong, so keeping it bottled up inside probably isn't helping any."

"And you were able to control it during your first Danger Room session," Kitty reminded her.

"Yeah, and then that night I almost killed Rogue."

The discussion switched topics, but the girls soon fell asleep. The next morning the group was supposed to meet outside to work on homework. The sky was cloudy, and the forecast held a chance of rain. Still, they met under a small group of trees and started with their math homework. They finished that quickly and were moving on to science when it started raining. Wanting to avoid looking stupid in front of the others for not understanding the material, Miranda stayed outside to play with the rain.

Taking a deep breath, she extended her power, using her arms as guides. She latched onto a small area of falling rain, suspending it in air. Then, slowly, she made it move in waves towards her, flowing around her in circles like running water in a river. Next, she separated the wave into two separate spirals, sending each one spiraling up towards the sky and back down again. She smiled, enjoying the feel of using her powers without being around someone to hurt.

"That's beautiful," someone said behind her. Startled, the water immediately dropped to the ground. She turned around to face her observer.

"What are you doing out her Bobby?" she asked in a clipped tone.

"I came to find you when you didn't follow us inside. Did you already do your science homework?"

"No, but I don't need help."

"No one's saying you do, we just find it easier if we do it together. If you don't want to, you don't have to join us." Miranda nodded and turned around, hoping he'd take the hint and leave. But she heard him take a breath and waited for him to speak. "Can I ask you a question?"

"What?"

"Is there something I can do for you?"

His question caught her off guard. No one had ever asked her that before. Usually they asked what was wrong with her or what they'd done, but no one asked if they could do something for her. How was she supposed to respond to a question like that?

"I, I–" She stumbled around for an answer.

"I only mean, you always seem angry when you talk to me, and I don't recall doing anything to offend you. So is there something I can do to get you to trust me?"

Again, Miranda searched for a response but came up with nothing. She began to realize that maybe she should give Bobby a chance. He was always more than polite to her, and from what she'd learned from Rogue and Kitty, he was the model of a perfect boyfriend. Naturally she was suspicious of anyone who seemed too perfect, but he was out here in the rain, getting soaked, asking her how to earn her trust. Perhaps he deserved a chance after all.

"Well, for standing in the rain and getting sick just to ask me that, I guess I'll give you a chance," she told him finally. His face immediately brightened, and that charming smile of his spread across his face.

"Great. Can we go inside then? I'm freezing."

She nodded and followed him back inside the mansion. The rest of the group had already started on the science homework, so Bobby offered to help Miranda. Keeping her voice low so no one else, especially John, heard how little she understood, she let Bobby help her learn the material. He was patient with her, and she ended up finally understanding their homework. The others finished faster, but they all just headed off to play foosball. Only John made a comment, which Miranda promptly responded to. Once they finished they joined the others.

The next day, Jean approached Miranda as she was eating lunch with Kitty in the kitchen.

"Miranda, I was hoping to talk with you about your performance in the Danger Room sessions." In response to her request, Miranda followed Jean outside to continue their conversation. "Why haven't you been using your powers to destroy the targets?" she asked gently.

"I'm afraid I'll lose control and hurt someone. You saw how I almost killed Rogue that night, and I was asleep. What happens if I lose control again and can't stop the water?"

"The Professor thought that might be the problem. He's asked me to help you, if you're willing of course, by training you in one-on-one sessions. We also wondered if you'd rather work with Storm, as some of her powers are similar to yours. We would still expect you to continue your group sessions, but we would have the private sessions on the other nights. Would you be willing to try?"

Miranda stared at the ground for a moment, thinking about things before answering. On the one hand, she didn't want to have to have private tutoring sessions just so she could learn to control her powers. She knew John would give her a hard time. But on the other hand, she desperately wanted to learn to use her powers without losing control. She longed to not have to be afraid of hurting anyone anymore. She made up her mind quickly, all these thoughts taking only seconds to process.

"I guess we can try private sessions. When would we start?"

Jean smiled. "We'd like to start tonight if you're open to it. That way, we thought you might be ready to try using your powers in the group session tomorrow night.

Miranda agreed to have her first session that night, and surprised herself when she realized she was excited about the session. Kitty and Rogue were excited for her as well, hoping she would gain confidence in her powers so they could see her use them in the group session. She reminded them that it was only one session, but they were optimistic. So was she, though she was less obvious about it. Hoping this would be a break through in using her power, she headed down to the danger room that night. Jean and Storm met her inside.

"I will be monitoring the sessions, but you'll mostly be working with Storm for now," Jean told her. "Later on we might change things, but for now we'll keep it simple." She gave Miranda an encouraging smile before letting the white-haired woman take over.

"Are you ready, Miranda?" she asked.

"I guess."

"I thought we'd start off simple." She opened a water bottle and held it in her hand. "I'd like you to take the water out of this bottle and hold it in a spherical shape in the air between us. Understand?"

Miranda nodded and began concentrating on the water. She quickly pulled the water from the bottle and suspended it in the air. Next, she quickly condensed it into the shape of a sphere. As it hung in midair, she suddenly saw instead a sphere of water hovering over a bowl, part of a magic trick she performed with her partner in the circus. Her concentration broke and the water splashed on the floor. Miranda looked at Jean and Storm, who looked at her.

"I'm sorry, I lost my concentration."

"What happened?" Jean asked. "Your whole face changed just before you lost your concentration." Miranda didn't feel like divulging her past, so she just shrugged. Storm seemed to sense the need to move on because she broke the silence.

"Well whatever happened, you were able to do what I asked, so let's try something a little more difficult, okay?" Miranda nodded. "In the first session, you pulled the moisture around you into your hand to form water and then formed that water into a whip. I'd like you to do that again."

Miranda focused her mind on the task, and the others tasks she was given, each time doing what Storm asked of her. The techniques were simple, usually forming shapes or practicing using her water whip, which had become her weapon of choice with her ability. They practiced manipulating water for another hour. At the end of the session both women complimented Miranda on her control. She smiled at their praise, pleased with herself. She hoped that the same control she had tonight would carry over into the Danger Room session with the others the following night.

Kitty and Rogue were happy to hear about her successful first private session and assured her she would do just fine in their session together. Throughout the day, she appreciated their combined effort to continually encourage her. When it came time to meet the others, she was still feeling somewhat confident.

Scott was running their session that night. They were running the same exercise from her first session, stealing the targets from the other team. The teams were Miranda, Kitty, and Bobby against John, Pete, and Rogue. When they entered the Danger Room, each team spent a few minutes coming up with a plan.

"Kitty, you take Pete," Bobby said, taking the role as leader of their team, "I'll take Rogue, and Miranda, do you think you can handle John?"

She nodded, eager for the chance to shut John up by beating him in a fight. They took their targets from Scott and faced the other team. When the battle started, Rogue had already borrowed John's power and shot off flames when he did. She fired at Kitty and John fired at Bobby. Miranda knew they had a history of being friendly rivals, so she understood John targeting him. But with those four paired off so soon, that left Miranda to deal with Pete. He had transformed into his metal form already, obviously remembering she couldn't control him in that form. He charged at her, but this time she stood her ground. She formed a pool of water in front of him on the ground when he was a few feet away from her. When he slipped and fell, she was already running and grabbed his target before he was up off the ground. Looking around, she saw Bobby struggling with John, neither able to gain the upper hand. Kitty had lost her target to Rogue, but was running after her in an attempt to get it back.

"Bobby, help Kitty, I'll take John," Miranda shouted. Bobby nodded and broke away from John.

Miranda quickly used her whip against John, forcing him to dodge her attacks. She watched out of the corner of her eye as Bobby and Kitty cornered Rogue and got the targets from her. Bobby then came up behind John and distracted him while Miranda ran up to take his target. Then the exercise ended.

"Great job," Bobby told her as they walked out. Everyone else congratulated her as well on her improvement.

The next day, the professor came up to Miranda and congratulated her on her progress. He also reminded her that if she wanted to he would still meet with her in the afternoon to talk about anything she wanted to. She promised to be there. During science class, she again wrote down everything Storm said as fast as she could, struggling again to understand the material. When class ended, she joined Kitty and Rogue for lunch outside as they'd planned, but Bobby, John, and Pete ended up joining them as well.

"Are you still having trouble understanding science?" Pete asked Miranda. "I could help you study more during the week if you'd like."

"No thanks." She then turned her head and joined another conversation.

Later that night, Kitty was sitting with Rogue and Miranda on one of the couches in the living room. They'd been talking about the upcoming Danger Room session and wondering what new simulations they'd be running now that Miranda seemed to have more control over her power when Kitty suddenly changed topics.

"Miranda, why do you still give Pete a hard time? You totally blew him off today at lunch when he offered to help you with science. Did he do something to you?"

"No, I just don't trust him, that's all."

"Why not?" Rogue asked.

Not wanting to get into her past, she gave the briefest answer she could think of. "I've had bad experiences with guys in the past, so I like to keep my distance, that's all."

"But you're getting along fine with Bobby now," Kitty pointed out. Miranda shrugged. "Why don't you at least give Pete a chance? Get to know him. He's a nice guy, so I can promise he won't hurt you, at least not intentionally. But, being a boy, he is prone to boy disease."

The girls all laughed, and the discussion moved on, but Miranda thought about what Kitty said. Sure, she had had bad experiences in the past, but hadn't that all changed since she'd been at the school? Only John had been mean to her, but that was more of a power trip she suspected. As two opposing elementals, they were bound to butt heads, like he did with Bobby. So perhaps she should give Pete the benefit of the doubt and try to get to know him. He'd only ever been polite to her. He was also attractive. She couldn't help but notice his good looks. But she wouldn't make the same mistake twice. No, she'd be on her guard, but she would allow him to help her with science at least, and see what happened with that.


	5. Chapter 5

Miranda finished up her time with the professor, tense after talking about her past, and returned to her room. She hated having to tell anyone about her family, but the professor never made her feel ashamed or embarrassed. He helped her through her emotions, consoling her and never commenting the few times she'd cried in his office.

After three full weeks at the mansion, she had finally settled into the rhythm of the school. She was used to the schedule of classes and Danger Room sessions, eating meals with her friends and spending part of her afternoons with the professor. On the weekends there was even a semi-regular routine with her friends. They still got together to go over homework, but then they sometimes split up for individual activities or remained together to entertain themselves. But on Fridays, after she finished talking with the professor, she met with Pete to go over her science homework. She was still struggling and Pete had offered to help her with her work apart from the others. She had thanked him, wondering if he'd done so because he'd seen how much she hated for the others to notice her struggles.

"You take notes during every class but you still don't seem to understand the material," he was telling her. "Maybe you should start taking fewer notes and focus more during class, see if that helps you understand better."

"But if I don't take notes then I won't know how to do the homework."

"That's why I'm here." He smiled at her, and they continued working on their assignments, which they finished within the hour. Miranda brought her books up to her room; Pete followed.

"So what are you going to do now?" he asked her from the doorway. She shrugged.

"Not sure. I'd thought about joining Rogue downstairs. She was going to watch a movie with Kitty today and spend some time away from Bobby. Why? Are you doing something particularly fun this afternoon?"

"No. But I had thought about taking a walk around the grounds. It's a nice day out. Want to come with me?"

Miranda hesitated. She'd done as Kitty asked and given Pete a chance, and like she said, he'd turned out to be a nice guy. He was always polite, unless he got into an occasional argument with John. But John could bring out anyone's bad side, Miranda knew that from experience. And Pete also had a sense of humor. On more than one occasion he'd made her laugh during their study sessions which kept her from arguing with John or falling into a depressing mood. She decided nothing could go wrong by taking a walk with him, so she agreed and they headed outside.

"Do you take a lot of walks?" she asked as they passed the basketball court.

"I guess. I just like being outside. It's relaxing, and it's also about the only way to get any privacy around the mansion. Living together, you tend to know where everyone hangs out, but only a few spend much time outside. I've noticed you like to spend time outside playing with the water."

"The professor said it might be good for me to practice. I always used to do it at home."

"Really? Does your family know you're a mutant, or did you keep your powers secret?"

Miranda instantly regretted bringing up her home. She didn't want to talk to anyone about it, least of all Pete. She only spoke to the professor about it, and that because he requested it, though she did find that it helped her. She quickly thought of a way to change the subject without ignoring Pete's question altogether.

"I only discovered my power when I was 15, and since it exploded I wasn't able to keep it secret. Does your family know?"

"Yes. It's sort of hard to hide when you suddenly turn into metal in front of everyone. But they accepted me. I used to live on a farm, so I was actually able to use my mutation to help out."

"So how did you end up here? I mean, if you weren't having any problems, why did you leave home?"

"Actually, Professor Xavier came to my house and spoke with me. He told me about this school, and how he'd help me learn other things besides farming, giving me a chance to do something else if I wanted. He also told me I'd get to be around other mutants. That was a big part of it for me, since I didn't know of any other mutants around, unless I heard about them on the news. What about you?"

"Surely you've already heard my story. I know John made a point of talking to me about my origins."

"Yeah, I've heard the talk, but how can I know what's true and what's just rumor if I don't ask you?"

"I was homeless and the professor found me, that's all. He made me an offer and I decided to stay here."

"And are you glad you stayed?"

Miranda smiled and answered without hesitating. "Yes, I am."

Pete smiled back at her. She quickly looked away, her gaze resting on the fountain near the wall that surrounded the entire estate. Without thinking, she took off running towards it while simultaneously drawing water from it and pulling it towards her. Pete followed her, wondering what she was going to do.

"Will you let me try something?" she asked him when they came to a stop a few feet from the fountain.

"What exactly do you want to try?"

"I want to see if I can move you using my water."

After a moment's consideration, he nodded. She told him to stand still. Then, very carefully, she wrapped the water around his torso, watching as it circled him like a snake. When the water ran from his waist to his shoulders, she stopped it and held it steady. Then, slowly, she tried to bring it towards her, along with Pete still inside. At first, nothing happened. The water continued to circle his body, but neither moved any closer to Miranda. But after a few more seconds, she saw his torso start leaning forward. The look of surprise on his face told her he wasn't moving himself. She pushed herself and put more concentration on the water, telling it to move more. Suddenly Pete was flung forward and knocked Miranda to the ground. The water circling his body separated and dripped onto the ground beneath them.

"Sorry," Miranda said. Pete quickly got up and helped Miranda up as well. "I didn't mean to fling you off the ground like that. Are you okay?"

"Don't worry, I'm fine. Besides, now we know you can move objects with water, you just have to work on it. Not everything will be as sturdy as me."

She smiled with relief, pleased with herself and also glad she hadn't injured Pete. She didn't like to think about how she would have explained his injuries to the professor. They walked a little longer, talking only briefly. When they reentered the mansion, Miranda plopped down on the couch next to Rogue and watched the last half of the movie with her. Pete disappeared upstairs with a quiet goodbye.

The next day, Miranda was surprised when the professor called her into the front room. He was sitting across from a policeman, who stood up when Miranda entered the room. The professor said he'd let the two of them talk alone, clearly what the police officer wanted, and left the room. Miranda sat down on the couch across from the officer, wondering what he wanted.

"Is your name Miranda Spencer, daughter of Nathan Spencer?" She nodded and waited for him to continue. "I've been sent here to tell you that your father has unfortunately passed away." The policeman went on to explain that her father had died from alcohol poisoning and was found dead on the floor in the bathroom. His girlfriend was planning the funeral service and wanted her to be part of the ceremony, say a few words and all that. Miranda acknowledged this information and saw the officer to the door. Once he left, she headed up to her room and sat on her bed. Rogue was playing foosball with Bobby downstairs, so she knew she had the room to herself for at least another hour.

Her father was dead. She wouldn't miss him. He'd never been much of a father. He'd never abused her physically, but once he found out she was a mutant, he completely ignored her and acted like she didn't exist. When she could finally get him to speak to her, he only called her names, like "freak" or "monster". He had caused her brother's death by driving drunk, and then had the nerve to blame her brother for his own death and for the death of their mother, who died in childbirth. But he was her father. He _had_ provided for her for most of her life. She wasn't sure how much she loved him, if at all, but she knew she would regret not attending his funeral service. But she didn't want her friends to know. They would feel sorry for her and treat her differently, making things awkward because they would be trying not to upset her. She liked things the way they were and didn't want to change them. Nor did she want to tell the professor. He'd offer to go with her, which she also didn't want. She preferred to go alone, but she had no money to pay for a cab. The only people with cars were the teachers: Scott, Jean, and Storm. But she knew of one student who'd brought his own vehicle, unable to leave it at home because he'd built it all himself, and that person was Pete. But she didn't want to ask him now. If she did, it would inevitably get around the school and all her planning would be in vain. No, she would have to ask him when they were alone, and right when she wanted to leave. There was the other problem. The students weren't supposed to leave the mansion without specific permission from the professor, but she didn't want to ask him about this. She decided she'd leave in the middle of the night, hopefully then she'd be able to get away without detection. By the time anyone realized she was gone, it would be too late and they'd just have to wait for her to come back. But how would she convince Pete?


	6. Chapter 6

At one in the morning, Miranda's alarm went off. She quickly turned it off and made sure Rogue hadn't woken up. When she was sure the girl was still asleep, she quietly left the room, grabbing the bag she'd packed earlier and left at the end of her bed. Then she tiptoed down the hall to Pete's room and quietly knocked on the door. A few seconds later Pete opened the door.

"Miranda? What are you doing?" She briefly forgot her prepared speech as she took in his bare chest, which she noticed was well built.

"I need you to do me a favor. I need to go home, and I don't want anyone knowing about it just yet. But I can't afford a cab. I know you have your motorcycle here, so would you give me a ride?"

"Miranda, you know we're not supposed to leave the mansion without permission. Why don't you just ask the professor in the morning? I'm sure he'll give you permission if it's important to you."

"No, I don't want anyone knowing, but I need a ride from someone and I'd rather it be you than any of our teachers. I'm going to go whether you come or not." She watched him, waiting for his response. He ran a hand over his face.

"Alright, give me a minute to change." She waited outside his room and when he came out a minute later they walked down to the garage together. He handed her the extra helmet.

"Thanks," she told him before putting it on.

He nodded, and then they took off. She wondered if the sound of his motorcycle would wake anyone up, but she didn't care. It was too late to stop her. She gave Pete some brief directions, but felt bad when she told him it would take them over 3 hours to get to her house. He made no response, which left her wondering what he was thinking.

* * *

He had known from the minute she told him what she wanted that she would leave the mansion no matter what. He wondered if she would have tried to drive herself if he hadn't agreed to take her. That would have been a mess, knowing she couldn't drive. He felt that there had been no other option but to go with her. He just wished she would tell him exactly why she wanted to go home in the middle of the night and not tell anyone. Kitty had told him about her visit from the police officer. Rogue had apparently found her just sitting on her bed, alone, staring off in to space. She had refused to talk about the policeman and insisted nothing was wrong. They all knew something was bothering her, but unless she wanted to talk about it, there was nothing they could do.

Pete had been surprised to learn how far she was asking him to drive, but compared to some of the students at the mansion, she lived relatively close. She lived much closer than him. He said nothing but kept driving. She was sitting behind him, and he could tell she'd never ridden on a motorcycle before because she was holding him tightly, as if afraid she would fly off if she let go. He smiled to himself. She sometimes put on a tough act, acting like nothing bothered her, but it was clear that there was much more to her underneath the surface. She was close with Kitty and Rogue, but he and Bobby had commented on how hard it had been for them to become friends with her. They guessed it had something to do with her past, the one topic she never spoke about. Even Bobby occasionally talked about his family, speculating about how they'd react if they found out he was a mutant. But Miranda kept her mouth shut. Clearly something had happened to her, and he wondered if a guy had hurt her, causing her to not trust men at all. She always tensed up around Scott. She had some kind of private time with the professor during the afternoons, but no one knew what went on. Miranda never talked about it, but he'd seen her come out once with red eyes, a sign that she'd been crying. He thought that if anyone could get through to her, it would be the professor. He had a way of getting past anyone's tough exterior and seeing the person behind it.

* * *

They didn't stop until they reached Miranda's house. She had no idea where her father's girlfriend lived, but she wanted to say goodbye to her home. She needed the closure in her life. Pete agreed to wait outside for her, still not knowing why she was here. Inside the house, nothing had changed. All the furniture was exactly as she remembered it before she'd run away from home. And the entire house still reeked of stale beer. She sat down on the couch for a moment, thinking about her father. A moment later she heard something behind her. She jumped off the couch and turned around to face a strange-looking intruder.

The woman, or at least she looked female, was entirely blue, covered in what looked like scales, and wore no clothing. Her hair was also a strange red color, which might have looked natural on someone who didn't have blue skin. When she spoke, even her voice sounded strange.

"Hello Miranda."

"Who are you? What are you doing here?" The woman smiled, then Miranda watched, dumbstruck, as the woman changed into the policeman who'd come to Xavier's mansion.

"My name is Mystique." The policeman disappeared as Mystique reverted to her original form. "I needed to get you away from Xavier so I could speak with you." Miranda suddenly understood.

"So my father's not dead?"

Mystique smiled. "No. He's currently living with his girlfriend and this house will be torn down in a few days as he was unable to pay his past few mortgage payments."

"What do you want with me?"

"Xavier got to you before I could, otherwise I would have spoken to you sooner. I know about your ability to manipulate water and moisture. I think you can help me." Mystique gestured to the couch, and they both sat down facing each other. Miranda sat tensed and ready to run, while Mystique, she noted, seemed perfectly comfortable.

"I work with a man who's made it his life's goal to see mutants live free from fear, no longer persecuted by those ignorant fools in the white house who don't understand us. He wants to help mutants everywhere live better lives. You ran away because everyone at your school hated you because you were a mutant. He wants to stop things like that from happening."

"That's sounds great and all, but how does he plan to do that? And why do you need me?"

"He tried once already, using a machine that would turn normal people into mutants, like us, but Xavier and his team of mutants stopped us. They claimed it killed everyone it changed. After that he was captured and placed in a well-guarded prison." Here she paused, smiled again, then continued. "I know what you did to your partner. I read the police report. I want you to help me break Magneto out of prison so he can continue his work."

"I don't want to help you break anyone out of prison, no matter how great their work might be. I'm sorry, but you've wasted your time." Miranda stood up and began walking towards the door, but Mystique jumped up and pushed her roughly back onto the couch.

"I didn't come here to take no for an answer."

"Well that's all you're going to get, 'cause I'm not going to help you."

Miranda stood up and began forming her water whip to attack Mystique, but the woman moved faster. She kicked Miranda across the living room and into the wall. She then picked Miranda up and held her against the wall, pressing her hand into her throat. Miranda tried to fight back, tried to summon some water to force Mystique to release her grip, but she couldn't focus. Her vision was blurring and it was getting harder to breathe. She lashed out with her arms, attempting to scratch Mystique, but the woman easily knocked them away with her other hand.

A crash sounded from the door, and through her blurry vision she saw Pete in his metal form standing in the doorway. The metal giant rushed at Mystique, who released Miranda in order to avoid him. She tried kicking him, but her foot just glanced off his metal body. Mystique knew she was at a disadvantage, and ran out the back door. Pete waited until she'd left before going over to check on Miranda.

"Are you okay?" He transformed back and helped Miranda stand up.

"I think so. Thanks for coming when you did, but how did you know?"

"I heard sounds coming from the house that sounded like a fight, so I decided to risk running in. Turns out I was right. How come you didn't attack with your water whip like you do in the Danger Room?"

"I tried, but with her kicking me into the wall and then choking me, I couldn't concentrate enough."

They walked outside, Miranda shutting the door behind her. She assured Pete she didn't need any medical attention, and told him what Mystique said about making up her father's death. So they filled up Pete's motorcycle with gas and returned to the mansion. When they pulled into the garage, Scott was waiting for them.

"The professor wants to see both of you in his office," he told them. They followed him to the professor's office, where he let them walk in alone.

"Miranda, Peter, I'm glad you're back."

"Please, Professor, don't blame Pete," Miranda said quickly. "I asked him to take me, it wasn't his idea."

"Before I think about punishing either of you, first I'd like to know exactly what happened."

Miranda quickly told the professor everything that happened, starting with the policeman who had visited her at the mansion, who was really Mystique. The professor let her tell her story without interrupting. After she finished he asked if there was anything Pete wanted to add, who said no. Then he sat back in his wheelchair and thought for a minute. Finally he looked at the pair and spoke.

"It was very foolish of you to leave the mansion without permission, and with just the two of you. Miranda, I hope you realize that Mystique is a very dangerous mutant, and the man she wanted you to break out, Magneto, is even more dangerous. If Peter had not come in when he did and stopped Mystique, you would have been in serious trouble. From now on, I must ask you to promise that you will never leave the mansion again without asking me first." Miranda promised, very much aware that she was on thin ice with the professor, however calm he appeared. "Peter, I want to thank you for going with Miranda rather than letting her go by herself, but I would ask you to make the same promise, and next time try and stop someone who wants to leave in the middle of the night." Pete quickly promised. "Good. You've made it back to school in time for your first class, so I expect you two to get your books and attend all your classes. I will excuse you from you session tonight in the Danger Room. I don't want either of you injuring yourself from a mistake made because you're tired. Peter, go on ahead and let Scott know Miranda will be a few minutes late. I have something else I want to speak with her about." Pete nodded and left the room, giving Miranda an encouraging smile before closing the door behind him.

"I'm really sorry Professor. I promise I won't do it again."

"Yes, I'm sure you won't, but that's not why I asked you to stay. I want you to tell me why you wanted to leave in the middle of the night without telling anyone. Were you afraid I wouldn't let you go home?" Miranda thought for a moment before answering.

"No. I knew you'd probably let me go home, but I also knew you'd want to talk with me about my feelings, like we've been doing in our afternoon sessions. I didn't want to talk to anyone about it, not you, not my friends. I didn't want anyone feeling sorry for me or treating me different. I've told you what life with my father was like. I didn't much care for him, and if he had died, I wouldn't have missed him much. It's hard to explain why I wanted to go to his funeral, but I think I just needed some closure. But I couldn't afford a cab, so I needed someone to drive me, and I knew Pete had his motorcycle up here so that's why I asked him."

"I see. I won't keep you any longer, but tell Peter that as punishment both of you will be doing dishes after everyone's eaten dinner for the rest of the week."

Miranda nodded and got to class as quickly as she could. Everyone stared at her, which she'd been expecting. After class ended, she told Pete about their punishment, and he told her he'd catch her up on what she'd missed at the beginning of class.


	7. Chapter 7

After classes ended, Bobby, Rogue, John, and Kitty all ganged up on Pete and Miranda and demanded that they explain where they'd gone. Miranda told them what happened and about their punishment. John said he wished he could have been there to fight Mystique, while the others were a little less enthusiastic, telling Miranda she shouldn't have gone. But then they moved on and went their separate ways. Pete and Miranda sat down at a table to go over Scott's class. But before they started, Pete surprised her with a question.

"Do you want to learn how to fight without using your powers?"

"What?"

"I mean, you said yourself that you lost your concentration so you couldn't use your powers when you fought Mystique, and because you couldn't fight her without your powers, she beat you. So I wondered if you might want to learn how to fight. I could teach you some of the stuff I know, at least the basics."

Miranda wasn't sure how to respond. It would be smart to learn how to fight physically, for the reasons Pete had said. If she couldn't focus on her power, she at least wouldn't be helpless like she'd been against Mystique. But did she want Pete teaching her? She was already spending more time with Pete, and Kitty had pointed it out. She didn't want to give Kitty more reason to think she liked Pete as more than a friend. She was attracted to him, there was no doubt about that, but she didn't want to give him that control over her. The last time she liked someone he'd used it to manipulate her, and she wouldn't give anyone that power again. But would getting fighting lessons be a problem?

"I guess it couldn't hurt. When would we do it though?" She saw Pete think for a second.

"Maybe we could do after your meetings with the Professor in the afternoon. We could start with doing it every other day, so you won't be too tired for the Danger Room sessions."

"Okay, but not today. I'm already tired from lack of sleep, so I'd probably just end up falling on my face."

"That's fine. We can start whenever you're ready."

She put it off until the weekend, wanting to start on a day when she didn't have a Danger Room session. When they joined their group for the next session though, the Professor said he was changing their simulation. He told them he wanted to see how they could work as a team against an opponent, to learn to use each others' strengths while covering for each others' weaknesses. Storm would be acting as their opponent. The students quickly huddled together to discuss a strategy.

"Miranda's and Bobby's powers will be weaker against her because they're both water based," Kitty pointed out.

"John, you'll probably have the most advantage," Bobby said. "Why don't we have Rogue borrow your power and the two of you will be our main attack force. Pete, you might be able to get close to her in your metal form because of your strength. If you can do that, you might be able to distract her. Kitty, go with Pete. You can hopefully phase through her attacks and help Pete get close."

"Do we know what we have to do to 'win' in this simulation?" John asked, grimacing as Rogue touched him to borrow his ability.

No one knew. With the strategy planned, they spread out and faced Storm. Once the professor gave them the signal, Storm immediately began a whirlwind inside the Danger Room. She also used to wind to levitate her body, remaining out of reach of Pete and Kitty. John and Rogue immediately began throwing fire at Storm, but she just deflected it with water. Bobby tried to freeze the water, but she only threw the icicles at everyone. Pete and Kitty were still making their way towards Storm, but they didn't know what they'd do once they reached her. Miranda tried to manipulate the water around Storm and turn it against her, but their power was evenly matched, making the water stand still as they fought for control over it. As she struggled with that, Miranda suddenly had a thought. She let go of the water and focused her power inward. Concentrating on the water within her own body, she began lifting her body, hovering at an even level with Storm. Everyone was surprised by this, even Storm. Miranda then kept Storm occupied with their battle over the water. This allowed John and Rogue to hit her with a fireball and Pete and Kitty made it to the floor beneath her. Pete lifted Kitty in the air using the strength of his metal form, and Kitty grabbed hold of Storm's feet and began to pull her down. When she was back on the floor, the professor sounded the end of the simulation.

"Miranda, how did you make your body float like that?" Rogue asked when they were out of the Danger Room.

"I manipulated the water in my body. I've never done it before, but it made sense for me to try at the time."

The others also commented on her powerful display. She thanked them, but then changed the subject. She didn't enjoy being the center of attention, even if it was to congratulate her. The next session was similar, but instead of Storm the group faced Scott. They came up with another strategy that used everyone's strengths and succeeded in beating him again, only this time with a few injuries from Scott's power. Still, the professor was pleased with their progress as a group. But he was changing their sessions still more. He told them that he was splitting them into two smaller groups: Pete, Miranda, and Kitty and Bobby, Rogue, and John.

Miranda wasn't upset at the change like some of them were. She saw it as a chance to hopefully further improve her abilities. The professor had said in their last private session that he believed her mutation wasn't complete. He suspected she still had a few more changes to expect before her powers were fully developed. She hoped the final changes wouldn't be anything to drastic, but still, with a new group and new simulations, she might be able to see those final mutations emerge.

That weekend, Pete gave Miranda her first lesson in self defense. He first showed her some of the more sensitive areas to aim for to inflict the most damage: groin, nose, etc. He showed her simple defensive maneuvers, such as spinning out of a grip when someone's grabbing her from behind, or when someone's pinning her to the ground. She tried out the moves on Pete, and managed to spin away from him. Next they went back to practicing hitting the sensitive areas of the body. After that Pete had her just practicing punching and kicking. By the time they called it quits for the day Miranda was feeling more confident in her ability to fight off an attacker long enough to pull out her water whip.

"Thanks for teaching me how to fight," she said.

"You're welcome. But you still have a lot to learn," he reminded her, to which she nodded.

The next day, the professor announced that he was taking all the students on a field trip to the Museum of Natural History. Everyone was excited. They didn't often get to leave the mansion, and especially to visit museums and other similar places. But they weren't allowed to just go off on their own or in small groups. They were split up into larger groups, and each group had to stay with one of the adults: Storm, Jean and Scott, or the professor. Jean and Scott got most of the younger students.

Miranda found herself in the professor's group, along with Pete and Kitty and several other students. The professor showed them around the museum, pointing out interesting exhibits and taking time to talk about his favorites. He also spent time answering any questions they had. Miranda particularly enjoyed the fossils that had been put back together and stood up in the shape of the animal. As they traveled through the museum, Miranda was reminded that she had been an accomplice to robbing museums like this, though not this particular one. The thought threatened to dampen her mood, but she was determined to enjoy herself as she was no longer that person.

After they had been there for some time, the professor suddenly stopped speaking in the middle of a sentence. He looked down the hall, and then began moving down the hall in the direction of the food court.

"Follow me, students," he told them. "There is something that needs my attention." As they walked, they noticed everyone else around them had stopped moving. People were standing absolutely still. Some were still pointing at things, and others were in the middle taking a bite of food, but they remained as still as the statues in the exhibits around them. Once they arrived in the food court, they noticed Bobby, Rogue, and John standing and looking at the frozen people around them. They heard Bobby tell Rogue he hadn't caused everyone to stop moving.

"No, I did," the professor told the trio. "And the next time you feel like showing off, don't." He gave John a pointed look.

Miranda noticed a boy on the ground, his arm dusted with ice she knew had come from Bobby. Obviously John had been showing off his fire power and Bobby stepped in. She rolled her eyes, wishing the former would grow out of his need for attention. They noticed the professor listening to a news report on the TV, something about a mutant attack on the President. They left the museum, and as they exited the building, they noticed people began moving and talking again. Miranda wondered what everyone in the food court would think when they saw John and Bobby had disappeared.

"Why'd you have to show off?" Bobby asked John later, when everyone had returned to the mansion.

"He was being a jerk," John said sarcastically.

"Still, you didn't have to set his arm on fire."

"Yeah, you got us kicked out," Miranda added, "though not by the museum security at least."

"Oh, and were you having that great of a time looking at the stuffed mannequins and old bones? Please, the only good thing about that trip was getting out of this mansion. Don't you ever get sick of living life cooped up in this place?"

"Some of us got sick of living life outside this place first."

Not wanting to listen to John complain anymore, Miranda left the room. She watched, surprised, as everyone followed her out but John. They migrated to the living room. Miranda involved Kitty in a game of cards, while Pete began helping a younger student with his homework and Bobby and Rogue sat on the couch. Miranda looked up when Rogue went running off to greet the person who'd just arrived on a motorcycle.

"Who's that?" Miranda asked Kitty.

"That's Logan, a.k.a. Wolverine," Kitty explained. Miranda remembered Rogue's story of her encounter with Magneto. "He left after the Liberty Island incident, but only the professor knows where to. Guess he's back."

"How come Rogue's so happy to see him?"

"She has kind of a weird relationship with him. It's like a really close brother/sister bond, you know? He saved her life a couple of times when Magneto was after her."

"I guess that would definitely bring two people a little closer. Ha! I win again." Miranda laid down her winning hand of cards, but watched as Bobby pulled Rogue back into the living room.

That night at dinner, Logan was eating across from her, Kitty and Rogue. She was curious about this stranger. She knew about his involvement with the X-Men thanks to Rogue and Kitty, and also about his unique abilities. He was the ruggedly handsome type, somewhat scruffy looking with that facial hair and worn out clothes, but those didn't take away his handsome features. He was well built, enough to rival Pete she decided, but didn't seem interested in anything around him. Rogue had also told her about the tension between him and Scott over Jean. She wondered if Jean was on his mind right now, as he was staring out the window with vacant eyes. He glanced over and caught her looking at him briefly, so she quickly looked away and returned her attention to her friends.


	8. Chapter 8

Miranda woke up suddenly, pulled out of sleep by someone's scream. She recognized the unearthly scream as Siryn and knew immediately something was wrong. Then, just as suddenly, it stopped. She jumped out of bed and turned to see what Rogue was doing. The girl was also out of bed and looking at her. Miranda opened the door and saw people running. Downstairs, she heard sounds of fighting.

"I'll go this way, you go that way," she told Rogue, pointing in opposite directions. She knew they needed to find out what was going on, but felt it was smarter to split up in case there were students in need of help. In the back of her mind, she wondered if somehow the mansion could be under attack, but she didn't want to believe that until she'd seen what was going on for herself.

As she turned a corner, she saw a man in full military gear, arm raised with a gun, facing away from her. She saw one of the younger students cowering in the corner at the end of the hall. Without hesitating, Miranda quickly formed her water whip and knocked the gun out of the soldier's hand. He turned around.

"Run!" Miranda yelled at the girl, who quickly took off down another hall.

The soldier ran at her, picking up the gun as he drew near. Miranda wrapped her whip around his legs and pulled them out from under him. He hit his head, but he was still getting up again. Miranda, swallowing her fear, used her power to control the water in his body. She threw him into the wall head first, and noted with relief that he was unconscious. Now knowing the mansion was indeed being attacked, she raced through the halls towards the sound of running feet. Soon she found herself with a group of about twenty students all running behind Pete.

The group of students seemed to know Pete knew where he was going, so she joined them, staying at the rear of the group in case another soldier showed up. After another turn, she saw a soldier emerge around a corner down the hall opposite them. Not waiting for him to attack first, she quickly pulled the water out of a vase next to her and shoved it at him like a giant wave. He was swept down the hall away from them and down the stairs. Once he was out of sight, she let go of her control over the water and returned her attention to the group. She stopped with the others as Pete stopped in front of a panel in the wall and hit it hard. The panel slid away to reveal a hidden passage. They all ran inside, Pete waiting to be last. As she entered the tunnel, she saw Logan hand over a young boy to Pete.

"I can help you," Pete told him.

"Help them."

Pete hesitated a moment, then entered the passage and closed the panel. He made his way to the front of the group and led them through. Some of the kids were crying, and Miranda noticed Kitty in the middle, trying to calm them. The two girls made eye contact, acknowledging their relief at the other's presence. They ran for maybe ten minutes, she guessed, before the tunnel ended and opened up into the forest near the south side of the mansion. Miranda made her way to the front of the group to speak with Pete.

"Where are we going to go?" she asked him.

"The professor told all the older students months ago what to do in the case of an emergency." The continued walking through the forest as he spoke. "He explained about these underground tunnels. There are three different ways to go. The one we took leads to an underground safe house the professor built years ago in this forest."

Miranda followed Pete, and took the young boy from him when he found the entrance to the safe house. It was a large rock next to a large tree, which had been marked on the roots with a small X. Pete slowly pushed the rock to the side, exposing a metal tunnel that went straight down. Ladder rungs were built into the side. Pete had to go down last in order to pull the rock back over the tunnel, using the handle on the bottom of the rock, so Kitty offered to go down first. Apparently the door could only be opened from the outside by using a password, which Miranda didn't have. She decided to go down after Kitty. The tunnel was about fifty feet long. When she reached the bottom, directly across from the ladder was the metal door.

"Password please," a woman's voice asked when Kitty touched the door.

"Kitty Pryde." The door opened and the girls walked in. "The professor had us use our name as the password so we didn't have to remember anything difficult. The security program uses voice recognition to match our voices to our name for the password."

Miranda nodded, impressed by the professor's foresight. She counted the students as they entered the room, wanting a final count to keep track of everyone. As she did so, she took in the room they were entering. It was a small room with plain concrete walls. There were two couches, a few chairs, a large cabinet alongside one wall, and two closed doors on the far wall. When the last student was in and Pete climbed down the ladder, they shut the door and locked it.

"Twenty-two students, including us," she told Kitty and Pete. The three of them were the oldest students there, so now the younger ones were looking to them for what to do next.

"I think we should all try and get some sleep," Pete said.

They knew it would be best to go to sleep, but the kids were still too anxious and worried. With only twenty-two students in their group, they were still missing many other students. No one knew if the others had taken a different tunnel, or even made it out of the mansion. So the older three took it upon themselves to try and calm the younger ones down. Many of the boys were sitting silently, looking like they wanted to cry but didn't want to in front of the whole group. One of the boys was sitting in a corner, curled up talking to himself. Many of the girls were still crying and thinking about the things they either saw or heard. Miranda looked at Kitty, who was busy trying to calm some of the more hysterical girls. Miranda remembered her mother telling her stories when she was little and woke up in the middle of the night from nightmares.

"How about I tell you all a story?" Miranda said suddenly, getting the attention of everyone in the room. It was the only thing she could think of to do. Kitty gently gathered the girls closer together, and many of the boys had drawn closer as well, though they only came as close as Pete, who was sitting on the other couch.

"What kind of story?" one of the girls asked, still sniffling.

"A wonderful story," Miranda said, and she launched in to one of her favorites. It was about a princess who had to run away from her castle in the middle of the night because an evil sorcerer had come to kidnap her so he could take over her kingdom. She ran into the magic woods that surround her castle, where she met a handsome stranger who agreed to help her. He was part of a small group of men who knew how to do magic too, but only used their powers for good. So the princess joined their group and led them back to her castle, where the sorcerer had taken over the throne. He had already burned much of the town and was using his magic to force people to obey him. So the princess, along with the small group of magicians, made their way to the castle. When they reached the sorcerer, he attacked the group using magic and killed all the magicians, save one, the one who had first met the princess. He fought with the sorcerer, one on one, until finally he killed the evil sorcerer. But the sorcerer had cast one last spell, which killed the young magician, or so the princess thought. Suddenly, the young man opened his eyes and sat up. He explained that the sorcerer had only succeeded in killing the magic in him, but he was still alive. The princess was very happy. She took back her crown and her kingdom, and then married the young man because they'd fallen in love.

When Miranda finished the story, she happily noted that many of the students were now asleep. Some were on the couches, some were lying on the floor, and others had wandered into the bedrooms, which Miranda had learned lied behind the two doors she'd spotted earlier. The few who were still awake had calmed down and were now able to go to bed.

"How did you come up with that story?" Kitty asked as they lay in bed, before falling asleep.

"My mom used to tell that me when I had nightmares."

"You've never spoken about your mom before." Miranda knew Kitty wanted to ask questions, but was being kind enough to give Miranda the chance to say no.

"She died giving birth to my brother. I was six."

"I'm sorry. Do you miss her?" Kitty asked after a brief pause. Miranda sighed.

"Sometimes I do, but for the most part I've moved past that. I still had my brother for awhile."

"Where's your brother now?" Miranda took a deep breath.

"He's dead." She pressed on before Kitty could ask a question, wanting to get it all out at once. "He was in the car with my dad, who was driving drunk. He ran a red light and they were T-boned. The car hit my brother directly and he died instantly. My dad, because he was drunk, only had a few minor injuries."

Kitty said she was sorry, but then there was silence. What more could she say? Miranda knew that there was little a person could say when they heard a story like hers. She appreciated Kitty's sentiments, but all she wanted to do was push those memories back down again and go to sleep. Thankfully, Kitty said no more and both fell asleep quickly.

The following morning, Miranda was one of the first ones up. She decided to find out what was in the cabinet in the other room. Inside she was relieved to find clothes, food, water, and other various items, such as flashlights and a first aid kit. Thankfully no one had been injured. The others began getting up soon too, and with Pete and Kitty's help, they rationed out food for breakfast. There appeared to be plenty of food, but they wanted to be careful in case they had to stay down there awhile.

"So what do we do now?" Kitty asked.

"We should keep the kids occupied to keep their minds off of the attack on the mansion," Pete said. "We don't want them just sitting around and worrying. But I want to go back to the mansion and see if the soldiers are gone."

"I want to come too," Miranda said.

Kitty agreed to watch over the kids while the pair went out to check on the mansion. Miranda followed Pete up the ladder, and after he closed the tunnel behind them, they began running in the direction of the mansion. When they reached the mansion, they crept inside quietly. They hadn't seen any sign of soldiers, but they weren't taking any chances. Pete took the lead, but finally they realized there was no one left in the mansion.

They walked through the mess that was left in the abandoned mansion. There were no bodies to be seen. Pete suggested the soldiers had most likely removed the bodies to avoid leaving them behind for the sake of the families and also to remove evidence of their identities. Blood was still evident on the floor from where bodies had fallen and then been drug in some places. And there was some debris scattered around the mansion, from shards of glass from broken windows to bits of wood from where things had been thrown into the walls.

"We should clean up the blood before we bring the kids back," Miranda said. "They might panic if they see it. It's bad enough everything they had to see last night." Pete agreed with her.

Miranda did most of the work. She formed a wave of water like she did the previous night and washed the blood outside. As she moved through the mansion, she pulled the water with her so she left everything dry. Pete followed behind her, making sure they didn't miss anything. Once they were satisfied that there was no blood left, they returned and told the group they were going back to the mansion. Everyone was relieved. When they arrived, they set about returning the mansion to its former state of order. Everyone found something to do, however small. Pete began fixing some of the furniture and parts of the mansion that had been destroyed. The smaller students picked up things that had fallen over or pieces of things that had been smashed, such as a few vases, but most of the large pieces had already been moved outside by Miranda's wave.

As they were cleaning, Miranda suddenly felt an intense pain explode inside her head. The water she'd been using splattered across the floor. Miranda fell to her knees, gripping her head in her hands. All she could think about was the pain. Tears formed in her eyes. The pain was almost more than she could bear. She squeezed her eyes shut, wishing it would stop. Then the pain disappeared. She opened her eyes and slowly got to her feet. Her legs wobbled slightly but she stood up and began walking down the hall. She found the others in the halls also getting up from the floor. Down in the living room, she found Pete and Kitty comforting a few younger students who were shaken up from the strange event.

"Are you okay?" Pete asked when he saw her come in.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I checked on the others as I passed them and they're all okay too. What happened?"

Pete shrugged. They looked at Kitty, who was just as confused as they were. The mansion was as clean as it could get with only their efforts. Many of the students went to their rooms to relax after all the events from the past two days. A few of the boys went outside and started a basketball game. Pete, Miranda, and Kitty sat on a couch in the living room, talking.

"You were really great with the kids last night," Miranda said, "getting everyone into the tunnel and leading us to the safe house."

"Thanks. You were really great telling that story, getting everyone to calm down."

"I sometimes had to do it for my brother growing up," she said. Kitty looked at her, and Miranda knew it was because she hadn't said that last night when talking about her mom and brother. She had honestly forgotten that she sometimes used to put her brother to sleep with stories.

Time passed, and soon they heard the hum of the X Jet returning home. The trio got off the couch rushed to see Jean and Storm, knowing they had left in the jet before the attack. What they saw as they arrived at the jet shocked them. There was a large group coming out of the jet: Logan carrying the professor, Bobby, Rogue, a few other students, Scott, a strange looking man they didn't know, and Storm. But Jean was not among the group. One look at the faces told them something was wrong. After a moment, Bobby told them the dreadful news.


	9. Chapter 9

"I can't believe John went with Magneto," Kitty said again. She was sitting on the couch with Miranda and Pete, while Bobby and Rogue sat on another. Bobby had his arm around Rogue while she leaned against him.

"John was sick of the mansion," Bobby commented, "he said so himself."

"He was always picking fights," Miranda said. "I bet he thought Magneto would give him more freedom than the professor."

"Magneto only gives mutants a bad name," Rogue said, "and John's only going to make things worse."

They nodded in agreement and then fell silent. Footsteps sounded in the hallway and they saw Scott walk by. It had been a few days since the group had returned from Alkali Lake, and Scott hadn't been the same. The students often saw him walking through the mansion or outside. They knew he was still grieving for Jean; they all were. They had a Danger Room session with him tonight and they had begun wondering if he would be up to running it. Miranda wondered if any of them would be up to training so soon after the loss of two mutants from their home. Everyone cried when the professor spoke of how she sacrificed herself for the mutants on the jet so they could escape the flood of water coming at them.

That night, Miranda showed up with the others at the Danger Room. They waited outside for several minutes for Scott to show up and tell them what they were doing. When he didn't show, they began wondering if he had forgotten about their session. Bobby suggested finding him to remind him of their session and started walking towards the elevator when Logan came down and stood in front of them.

"The professor asked me to cover Scott's shift with you," he said gruffly. "Something about needing to talk with him. He said you're supposed to run an exercise to test your reflexes."

The group formed a semi-circle facing away from Logan, who would either attack them from behind to test their reaction time in a counter attack, or throw something at them. He had several Frisbee-shaped objects on the ground behind him. To Miranda's left was Bobby and Rogue, and to her right Pete and Kitty. Logan attacked Bobby from behind first, and he immediately threw ice at Logan, knocking him backwards. Next, he threw a disc at Kitty, who heard it and let it pass threw her head. Next two discs were thrown at Pete, who transformed into his metal self, causing the discs to break on impact. Miranda could hear Logan running behind her, obviously going to attack the next person. At the last second, he switched paths and came at her. Reacting purely on instinct, she focused her energy on the water in his body and stopped him before he reached her. He grunted, so she let him go, and he threw a disc at Rogue, who ducked down just in time for the disc to fly over her head.

They continued this exercise for another hour, each time Logan changing his attacks to make them more difficult or changing the objects he threw at them. When he threw objects at Miranda, she tried to use her water to knock them off course, but usually she just ducked. Logan finally called an end to their session and the students filed out. Silence filled the elevator as they rode up to the second floor and headed towards their rooms, each person busy with their own thoughts.

Miranda wondered what the professor had wanted to talk to Scott about that caused him to send Logan to fill in. Obviously the man wasn't used to teaching a class, or dealing with people in general. He said very little after the beginning of the class. Despite his gruffness, it was obvious he was deeply affected by Jean's death. There was also some tension between the two men, and she could tell that Scott resented Logan's feelings for Jean. As Jean had been in a relationship with Scott, she could understand that.

She reached her room, but her mind was still going over everything surrounding Jean's death. Instead of going to bed, she walked past her room and entered the common room at the end of the hall. She sat in the arm chair next to the window and looked out at the storm clouds forming as she continued thinking. The professor had spoken to everyone, telling them the circumstances of Jean's death and the events at Alkali Lake. The professor had kept calm through it all, but when Miranda entered his office for their afternoon session, his eyes showed signs of crying. He told her he had every intention of continuing their sessions but asked if she would allow him the day to grieve Jean's death. Miranda immediately agreed. She knew how much Jean meant to him, they all did, and he had been the one she spoke her last words through.

"Can't sleep?" Miranda jumped at the sound of someone else in the room. She turned around and saw Pete standing just inside the doorway. He walked over and sat down across from her. He smiled. "Sorry for scaring you."

"It's okay, I was just thinking."

"About Jean?"

"Sort of. I was thinking about how everyone's taking it. Scott's turning into a zombie but I've heard him and Logan get into some arguments. The professor appears okay on the surface, probably to help the younger students, but in our private session, I can tell he's been crying, so obviously he's hurting inside too. And the students are trying to act like nothing's wrong, but even tonight it's obvious that we miss her. No one spoke as we left the Danger Room, which never happens. We're always talking about classes or out powers or something."

"How are you taking it? You knew her the least of anyone." Miranda shrugged.

"I miss her, just like everyone. I might have only known her for a short time, but she was always nice to me. She helped me a lot with controlling my power. I think it's actually harder when I see the professor, because he never gets upset about anything. If he were to lose it in front of anyone, I think everyone would lose it too."

"That's probably why he tries so hard to look like he's still in control of himself. He knows that everyone is looking to him to see how he reacts. He shows that he's sad, but he doesn't lose control. That's probably why we've been able to keep things going here."

Miranda thought about what he said and looked out the window again. The clouds had reached the mansion and a light rain was falling outside. If she listened, she could hear the drops hitting the roof. It was a soothing sound to her, always had been.

"What about you?" she asked, turning back to Pete. "Why are you up?"

"I roomed with John, so it's weird going back to an empty room. I know he had his issues with everyone, but he wasn't a bad guy. Mostly I think he was angry at the world."

"How did he end up here at the mansion?" Miranda always wondered about his past, but he never spoke about it and no one seemed to know anything.

"He said he ran away from home, but that's all I could ever get out of him. He refused to talk about his past." He gave her a pointed look, and she knew he was implying that she also didn't talk about her past.

"Sometimes the past is best left undisturbed," she said quietly.

"What do you and the professor talk about in your private sessions?" he asked. Miranda suspected he was going to shift the conversation to her past, and she decided to end it before it got too uncomfortable.

"I think we should probably get to bed. We do have classes in the morning." She stood up and walked towards the door.

"See you in class then," he said from behind her.

"Goodnight." She walked straight to her room and shut the door.

The following day, Miranda arrived at the professor's office and heard loud voices inside. She recognized Logan and Scott, but was surprised to hear the professor speaking loudly to them. A moment later, she was roughly pushed aside by Logan as he exited the room, and Scott walked past her without looking at her. She stared at them for a moment, wondering what happened, and then walked into the professor's office.

"What was that all about, Professor?" she asked as she sat down.

"I'm afraid Scott and Logan are having problems living in the mansion together." She watched as he sighed, rubbed his temples briefly, and turned his full attention on her. "You look tired Miranda. Did you sleep well?"

"I just got to bed late, that's all. What are we talking about today?"

"I know we spoke already about Jean's death, but I wanted to talk about it again. You've been around the other students when they're not in class. How do you think they're doing?" Miranda was surprised by the question. Normally he asked her about her past, or maybe if something was bothering her they talked about that. Recently they'd talked about Jean's death and John's desertion. But never had he asked for her opinion on something concerning the other students.

"I think they're managing. Some of the younger students are having a harder time. They miss her. Most of the older students seem to have accepted it and are trying to adjust."

"I'm sorry to have taken Scott away from your group last night, but it was important that I talk to him. How did Logan do?" She shrugged.

"He did alright. He didn't say much, but he ran the exercise well enough."

"I may have Logan take on a few more of your Danger Room sessions. Scott has a lot of emotions inside him right now, and I want to keep an eye on him. I would appreciate it if you would let your group know." She nodded.

The session ended a short time later, the professor needed to check on something in the Danger Room with Storm. So Miranda decided to walk around outside and enjoy the smell of rain that still lingered on the grounds. As she passed the basketball court, she noticed Kitty reading on a bench between some trees. She headed over and sat down next to her.

"Why are you reading out here?" she asked the other girl.

"Bobby and Rogue are playing foosball so I wanted to go somewhere a little quieter."

"Where's Pete?"

"He's helping one of the kids with math homework."

"He seems to do that a lot, help people with homework. Pete's a decent guy, so is Bobby. It's nice to know there are still some out there." Kitty looked at Miranda, who was debating whether or not to say something. Another moment passed, and she decided. "If I tell you something, will you promise not to tell anyone else?" Kitty immediately nodded and sat up a little straighter. "I mean it, though, you can't tell anyone, not even Rogue." Kitty nodded again, and Miranda opened her mouth, shut it, then opened it again. She was struggling to get it out.

"You like him, don't you?" Miranda's eyes widened. "You like Pete, admit it."

"Is it that obvious?"

"Well, not too much. It's just, you talk to him more than anyone else, except maybe me, and you've told him more about you than anyone else. _And_," she said, emphasizing the word, "he's the one you asked to take you home in the middle of the night."

"I only asked him because I knew he had a motorcycle and could drive. And I only spend more time with him because he helps me with my homework."

"That may be, but you're still blushing." Miranda cursed her body for betraying her, but smiled sheepishly. "How long have you like him?"

"For awhile."

"Since you first got here?"

"Well, I noticed he was handsome when I first saw him, but I only recently started liking him as more than a friend."

"Are you going to tell him?"

"Of course not!"

"Why not?" Kitty asked, confused. "If you like him, shouldn't you tell him so you can get together, be a couple, like Bobby and Rogue?"

"No, I don't ever want him to know, and you promised to never tell anyone, remember." Kitty remembered and promised again to keep Miranda's secret.


	10. Chapter 10

"You've really improved," Pete told Miranda as they left the Danger Room. They had another session with Logan, only this time they had to act as a group to defend themselves without their powers. Rogue participated the least as she had no training in fighting without using her powers. Miranda had continued her training with Pete and therefore was able to defend herself, with a little help, during the session.

"Thanks, but you're the one who taught me everything I know," Miranda said when Pete complimented her.

"That's true, so I guess you should be thanking me." He flashed her a big smile and she gave him a playful nudge. "I'm just teasing. But you have improved quite a bit since your first lesson."

"Thanks. I was wondering if you would be willing to go over our science homework one more time with me. I'm still not getting it."

"Sure."

They sat down in the living room after grabbing their books and went over the material. Pete explained it and Miranda felt more confident in no time. As they finished up, their conversation continued and they ended up sitting on the couches longer than they had anticipated; neither minded though. It was a Friday night, so without classes in the morning they could sleep in.

"So you're father drank a lot?" Pete asked after a comment Miranda made.

"Yeah, that's about all he did. He worked and then spent most of the money on booze, sometimes not leaving any money for food."

"Is that why you ran away?"

"I ran away for a lot of reasons. Once people found out I was a mutant, everyone turned on me. My father acted like I didn't exist. He wouldn't look at me or talk to me, and he never fed me again. My friends abandoned me and people called me all sorts of names. That's why I ran away."

"I sorry you had to deal with that. My family didn't love me any less once I found out I was a mutant. And even though our neighbors didn't do or say anything against me, you could tell they thought differently of me. That's when the professor brought me here. What happened after you ran away?"

"Uh, I sort of fell into a few bad situations that landed me living in a broken down car with no money."

"What kind of situations?" Pete asked gently, letting her know she was free to not answer. Miranda knew he meant no harm, so she decided to give him some of the information.

"I met a boy who pretended to be my friend, but he just used my power to make money."

"How did he do that?"

"He worked for the circus as a magician. He was a mutant too, actually; he could tell if he was standing next to another mutant. That's how he found me. I was sitting in a park when he walked in front of me and knew I was a mutant. He told me I could join him in the circus where I could perform some tricks using my power, like pulling water out of a bowl and holding it in midair, that sort of thing. I got sick of it though after a few weeks. When I told him I wanted to leave and asked for my share of the money, he refused to give it to me. He told me I was obligated to stay and work with him. Well that made me mad, and as I still had trouble controlling my power at that point, some of the water in his room started spinning and flying across the room. That freaked him out so he threw my money at me and told me to get out and never come back. So I left."

"Wow. And that's when the professor found you?"

"No, he found me a few weeks after that."

"What did you do until then?" Miranda knew it was coming, but she didn't want to answer the question. Only the professor knew about what happened then, and she didn't want anyone else to know.

"Stuff happened, but it's not important."

"If it's not important, then why don't you tell me?"

"Because I don't want to."

"Why not?"

"Look, I did some stuff I'm not proud of and I don't want to talk about it."

"Maybe talking about it will help you move on, since it obviously still hurts." Miranda was about to retort but Pete cut her off. "Every time we start to talk about your past you give me a small glimpse and then you clam up again. Why do you insist on pushing me away? What have you got against me?"

"You're a boy, so I can't trust you. Every boy who's ever been in my life has ended up hurting me one way or another."

"So did you meet a boy after you left the circus who broke your heart, is that it? Is that why you can't trust me?"

"No, it's because he was the first guy I ever liked and I killed him because I couldn't control my power!"

Tears ran down her cheeks and Miranda ran all the way up to her room. She slammed the door without thinking. Rogue had just gotten into bed so she immediately was up and asking what happened. Miranda refused to explain her stricken state, so after a few feeble attempts at comforting, she went back to bed. Miranda climbed into bed as well, but was awake long after Rogue fell asleep.

She hated herself for yelling at Pete like she had, for being unable to trust Pete, but most of all for killing Murphy. It was a horrible accident. She'd told the professor about it, which had helped a little, but she didn't want the others to know. If they knew she'd killed a man, what would they think of her? He'd been a bad person in the end, just like the others, but that didn't mean he deserved to die, and especially not the way she killed him. Miranda kept seeing his face as he died, the shock and the horror covering it. She could never forget his face. Just like the night she nearly killed Rogue, she still had nightmares about that night, reliving their argument and her emotions, always waking up after hearing the thud as his body hit the ground. She pulled the pillow over her head and tried to go to sleep, but the thoughts and emotions kept running through her mind. She finally managed to claim a few hours of sleep when the sun came up.

Rogue didn't say anything to Miranda about the previous night, but it was obvious she was thinking about it. Still, Miranda was grateful for her silence. At breakfast, Miranda grabbed her food quickly and left, wanting to avoid Pete for as long as possible. Thanks to their homework session the previous night, she didn't need to meet with the group in the afternoon, so she spent her time outside playing basketball with some of the younger kids. They let her play so long as she agreed not to use her powers, which she had no problem with. She wasn't a good player, but they had a good time regardless. Once it was over, she saw Pete standing at the far end looking at her. He walked over and congratulated the winning team and encouraged the other team, then pulled Miranda away.

"I was hoping to talk to you about what happened last night," he said quietly. They walked away from the court and around the side of the house where no one was watching them.

"I don't want to talk about it."

"You look like you didn't get very much sleep," he commented, causing her to look at him. "I'm sorry I upset you, I didn't plan to. I just got frustrated, that's all."

"I'm sorry too."

"Do you want to talk about it?" he prodded gently. She sighed, knowing she ought to explain her outburst.

"After I left the circus, I met a man who offered to let me stay in his apartment while I searched for a job. When I found out he was a professional thief, he convinced me to join him, saying my mutant ability would be useful. I was attracted to him and he used that to manipulate me. At first he only robbed small pawn shops and the like, but then he started targeting banks. He beat me until I agreed to help him. When he got the job to rob a museum, he shot the guards after I'd already knocked them out, and we got into a big argument. He started beating me, and I lost control of my power. I only meant to knock him out, but I ended up killing him. I ran away, not even bothering to go back to the apartment to get the money he had there. I was just afraid of being found by the police and being sent to jail for murder." A few sobs escaped and Pete pulled her into a bear hug.

"It wasn't your fault," he told her. "You said it yourself, you lost control of your powers. Plus, it was in self defense. You're safe now and that's all that matters. Okay?" he pulled away long enough to look at her. She nodded her head, and he pulled her back into a hug.

"Thanks Pete, for listening, that's why you're such a good friend," she said. Leaning against his shoulder, she missed the look of sadness that briefly crossed his face.

* * *

Pete continued to hold Miranda until she stopped crying. He'd never seen her cry so much, but then, killing a person would definitely leave deep scars. He'd had to deal with his own inner demons after killing one of the soldiers who attacked the mansion. A few days after the professor returned, he spoke with each person individually about their experience, helping them all through their emotions. Pete really appreciated that, knowing how much the professor had to be hurting from the death of Jean and the loss of John. But Miranda had been having private sessions with the professor since she came to the mansion. Obviously it had to do with her past. He never knew she'd experienced so much.

Hearing her accounts of the men who'd betrayed her in the past, he understood why it had taken time for her to come to trust the professor, Bobby, and him. She still didn't seem fully comfortable around Scott, but now that was hardly an issue with him never running their Danger Room sessions anymore. He hated that she had to struggle to trust people. Friends were important in life. They helped you through the hard times and celebrated the good times with you.

As happy as he was that she considered him a friend and trusted him enough to talk about her past, he wanted more. He noticed that besides him, the only person she spent more time with was Kitty. He'd been hoping that meant she might have feelings for him, think of him as more than a friend, but it seemed that's exactly what she thought of him. It was possible she might just want to avoid a relationship as the last man she liked has abused her and ended up being killed by her. There would definitely need to be a great deal of trust for her to admit to liking someone, but she trusted him a great deal already, so maybe there was hope. All he could do was wait and see if the time ever came when she might be ready for another relationship.


	11. Chapter 11

At the next Danger Room session, the group was surprised when the professor showed up to take part in the simulation. Apparently he was going to be held hostage by Storm and Scott and the five of them had to rescue him. Scott didn't seem happy to be part of the simulation, but they were glad to have him back and see him start to get back into life at the mansion. Before it started they gathered together and came up with a strategy.

Miranda would take on Storm and keep her busy, assisted by Rogue who would borrow Miranda's powers. The other three would take on Scott, but they also agreed to help the others if they noticed they needed it. With their simple plan in mind, they faced their opponents. Storm formed a wind tunnel inside the room and focused it on Bobby and Kitty, who'd already started running towards to Scott. Pete managed to break through, but was blown back by an attack from Scott. He landed on his feet and pushed forward again.

Miranda and Rogue began attacking Storm. Rogue threw balls of water at the woman while Miranda formed a water tunnel to fight against the wind, hoping to help the others get closer to Scott and the professor. Storm began attacking the girls with lightning, but Miranda used her water to try and steer the lightning back to Storm. At the same time, the elemental tunnels fell apart, allowing the others to begin their attack on Scott.

They worked together well, but the two older mutants were much stronger and better trained. It took the youths some time to gain any kind of advantage. Storm seemed to be tiring after fighting against the two mutants controlling water, and Scott seemed to be losing patience with the drill. He was starting to attack more often and with more intensity, forcing the group to act together to defend themselves against his attacks while trying to defeat Storm to gain access to the professor. They had finally tired out Storm to the point where she remained on the ground. Scott was still firing shots at the group without pause, and Miranda wondered if he just wanted to end the session so he could leave. Pete had taken it upon himself to act as a human shield for some of them, using his metal form. He was continually running around, trying to block Scott's attacks while the others continually pushed closer to "rescuing" the professor. Miranda was focused on keeping Storm busy to help the others reach the professor, and had started blocking out the rest of the battle in order to focus her ability.

A moment later she heard Pete yell out, saw him running across the room, and noticed a second too late that Scott was aiming at her for his next target. The blast hit her full on the chest, knocking her across the room and into the wall. She hit her head and slumped to the floor, dazed from the impact and her chest on fire from Scott's blast. Dimly, she noted the buzzer sounding the end of the session, but all she could focus on was her chest. She leaned against the wall she'd hit and waited for the professor to come over. He would want her checked for injuries immediately, and for once she wouldn't protest his concern. Pete arrived at her side first, followed by the others and last by the professor. He had her try to stand up, but her body wouldn't listen. Instead the professor instructed Pete to carry her to the medical room for examination.

She remained aware as Storm checked her for injuries, with the professor waiting nearby. Only a few tests were needed to decide she had a mild concussion, and thankfully her heart was fine. No serious damage had been done by Scott's attack, just some minor bruising she would feel for the next couple of days. Once that had been decided, everyone who'd waited outside was allowed to come in. She was surprised to see all of her friends had waited, though Pete by far looked the most anxious.

"Miranda has a mild concussion," the professor informed them, "and she'll be sore for several days. Thankfully there were no serious injuries. Now if you'll all excuse me," he said as everyone parted and he wheeled himself to the door, "I need to speak with Scott."

"How are you feeling?" Kitty asked.

"Okay, considering I just got slammed into the wall," she said, giving them a sarcastic smile.

Pete carried her up to her room, and the others commented on Scott's irrational behavior. They all attributed it to Jean's death, agreeing he hadn't been the same since. They hoped the professor would talk some sense into Scott, otherwise he probably wouldn't be allowed to participate in another session until he recovered. Tired from the intense session, everyone went straight to bed.

A few days later, Miranda was fully recovered. Everyone had fussed over her, much to her displeasure. The tried to bring her meals to her, to have her use the spare wheel chair kept in the mansion, and Pete even offered to carry her around so she wouldn't have to work. She insisted on refusing their help and doing everything on her own. As she told them, she had a concussion, not a body cast. She walked a little slower to make sure she didn't lose her balance, but nothing else had been affected by the accident. So when the professor agreed that she was back to normal, she rejoiced. The others were a little confused by her reaction to their help.

"I just don't enjoy being the center of attention," she told Pete while he was helping her with her homework. "I know it's hard to believe, but I'd rather not be fussed over and be left to take care of myself. I pretty much raised myself, so it's what I'm used to."

"I suppose that makes sense. We just didn't want you to hurt yourself."

"I only had a concussion! You act like I broke every bone in my body and was bed ridden for a month." Pete just smiled and they finished up their homework.

"I was going to go for a walk outside, want to come? There's a chance for rain tonight."

Miranda agreed to go. She knew he'd used the chance of rain to entice her. Rarely could she resist going outside when it was even lightly sprinkling. The rain gave her a sort of energy, like replenishing what she might have lost from using her power. Plus, the smell of rain was by far her favorite. So they walked out the back door and wandered around the wall enclosing the mansion, which was covered with ivy and other vine-like plants.

"So what do you think will happen with Scott?" Miranda asked. Pete just shrugged and stared ahead. "Something on your mind, Pete?" Normally he had an opinion or thought about everything, even if it was just speculation or observation. But he'd been quiet ever since they stepped outside.

"Sorry, I've just been thinking," he said without looking at her.

"What have you been thinking about?" she asked. Obviously it was important to him, or it wouldn't have captured all his attention. Then she watched as a slow blush began creeping its way up his neck and into his cheeks. Curious, she stopped walking and faced him, wondering what he could be thinking about to cause such a reaction.

"Miranda, I think it's only fair to tell you how I feel." She braced herself, having no idea where he was heading with this. "I really enjoy spending time with you, and I like you a lot, as more than a friend." Her eyes widened, but she said nothing. Pete hurried on. "I don't want you to think I'm pressuring you, I'm not, I just wanted you to know. We can still be just friends if that's what you want."

Miranda stood looking up at Pete, who switched between looking at her face to the ground under their feet. She was surprised by his honesty. Her feelings for him had shifted beyond friendship already, but under the impression he only thought of her as a friend and to protect herself, she'd kept her feelings to herself. She trusted Pete, and she did like him, but she didn't know if she trusted him enough to give him that control over her. What if he abused it? What if he changed? What if he'd only been playing the nice guy to gain her trust? She knew the questions could go on forever, so she shut those out of her mind. Next she focused on the most important thing, whether or not to tell Pete about her feelings for him.

"Pete, I . . ." She faltered, unsure of how to put her thoughts into words. "Do you remember what I told you about the man I killed? He knew I liked him and he used that to manipulate me, to make me do what he wanted. I swore I'd never give that control to anyone again. I don't know–"

"You should know I'd never do that to you," he said, interrupting her. "Wait," he said, suddenly making a connection, "does that mean you do like me as more than a friend?"

It was Miranda's turn to look at the ground. Gently, Pete took her hand and held it in his two larger hands. She looked back up at him. He was staring intently at her. She could see in his eyes that he wanted so badly for her to trust him. How could he possibly know how hard that was for her? It would be like putting her life in his hands, and should she ever lose control of her power again, his life in hers. What if she ended up killing him like Murphy?

"Pete, I can't take that risk."

"What risk?" Again, he seemed to make a connection, and she was surprised at his intuitiveness. "Are you afraid hurting me, or repeating what happened to the thief? You've grown so much since you've been here, I'm sure you'll be able to keep your powers under control now. And we already know that when I'm in my metal form you can't control me. So even if you do lose control, it won't affect me."

Slowly, she realized he was right. If she ever lost control around him, he could just transform into his metal form to be safe. Deep down, she knew he would never hurt her or use her like Murphy did. Pete was kind where Murphy was manipulative. Maybe it was time she took a chance. Would there ever be a safer person to take that chance with than Pete? Besides, she did like him and it would be hard to ignore those feelings now that she knew he felt the same way.

"I guess, maybe, we could try," she said. Pete smiled, clearly thrilled that she trusted him. He picked her up in a bear hug and swung her around. Then thunder sounded and rain began pouring down. Miranda used her power and the rain that would have fallen on them instead was diverted to the side, placing them in a sort of bubble to stay dry. Pete gave her a knowing smile and started laughing.


	12. Chapter 12

Kitty was the first to hear about Miranda and Pete's new relationship. She was thrilled for her friends, and gave Miranda that knowing smile, which was purposefully ignored. Next was Rogue and Bobby, who were equally happy for their friends. Soon everyone in the school knew, but Miranda didn't care what they thought. The only other person whose opinion she cared for was the professor, and he was busy in his office talking with Scott again. She assumed he'd bring it up in their next private session.

The group decided to go outside and practice using their powers for the fun of it. Rogue took turns borrowing each of their powers, thinking it might be good to get used to using their powers. Bobby started off the "practice" by creating an ice block in front of them, which Pete transformed into his metal form to destroy. Miranda practiced creating a wave of water, which knocked everyone down except Kitty, who phased through it.

"You know what I just realized," Kitty said. Everyone looked at her. "You don't have a name, Miranda." Miranda looked at her confused, since clearly she did have a name. Kitty realized her mistake. "I mean a mutant name. For instance, I'm Shadowcat, Pete's Colossus, Bobby's Iceman, and Rogue's, well, Rogue."

"So I need a mutant nickname?"

"Only if you want."

"What should I call myself?" The group sat on the ground to get comfortable while they thought of different names.

"Whirlpool?"

"No."

"Tidal wave?"

"No."

"Bubbles?"

"Definitely no." They came up with all sorts of names, but none of them fit for one reason or another. Finally Pete came up with something good.

"How about Riptide?"

"Hmm, I like it." It fit her personality. It sounded powerful, and deadly, something she liked. Everyone approved of the new name, and they continued talking about mutant nicknames for awhile. Miranda asked about everyone's nicknames and where they got them. She also learned about the names of some of the other students at the school.

When Miranda met with the professor next, just as she suspected, he brought up her relationship with Pete. He was very polite about it, and she had no problem answering his questions. After he was satisfied with her answers, he surprised her with an announcement.

"This will be our last session, Miranda."

"Why?" she asked after getting over her initial shock.

"I first began meeting with you to help you deal with some of the issues in your past. You had a lot of anger in you, all related to some of the hard things you've lived through. But since then, you've grown out of that anger. You've learned to let people in and work in a team. That anger is gone. You've made several close friends, and I've seen how loyal you are to those friends on different occasions. Your mutation is progressing at a normal rate and you seem to be handling it just fine. I think I've done all I can to help you."

Miranda couldn't think of anything to say. She enjoyed seeing the professor and talking to him about things. He was the wisest person she knew, and had an answer for everything. He'd helped her deal with her past, just like he said, and in doing so had prepared her to deal with the future. She didn't want to end their sessions.

"What if I have more questions, or need to talk to you?" she asked.

"My door is always open, you know that. If you ever need to ask me anything you're welcome to come see me. I just feel that meeting regularly as we have been is unnecessary now."

Miranda supposed he was right. She'd pretty much dealt with all her past issues. She wasn't prepared to talk about them all with her friends, but they weren't holding her back anymore. She thanked the professor for everything he'd done, and surprised them both by giving him a hug. Then she left and headed upstairs to find Pete.

"Ready to work on science?" she asked when he opened his door.

"Always," he said with a smile. As they walked downstairs, she told him about the end of her sessions with the professor. "Like he said, he's always willing to talk to anyone who needs him. And of course you can always talk to me."

"I know I can talk to you, it's just strange. I've been having these sessions ever since I got here basically, so I don't know what I'll do with that extra time."

"I'm sure you'll think of something. Maybe we should find you a hobby."

"Like what? All I really do besides schoolwork is train."

"Well, what do you enjoy?"

Miranda drew a blank. It had been so long since she'd really thought about what she enjoyed doing. She wasn't artistic, like Rogue, who was always sketching in their room at night. Aside from the training, she wasn't all that active, like Kitty who enjoyed running and rollerblading. She didn't care much for sports, like Pete and Bobby. Everyone seemed to have their niche except her. She spent so much time training because her powers had shown up much later in life that the others. And growing up, she usually went outside to play in the creek near her house.

"I don't know, actually. Kind of sad, isn't it?"

"Just a little," he said, giving her a smile. She jabbed him in the side. "We should find out what you like then." Miranda agreed to let Pete help her find something she enjoyed doing.

The following day, Miranda and Pete played basketball outside with some of the other mutants. Miranda discovered she was a decent shot, but didn't think basketball was fun enough to play more than once a week. She also told Pete the same would go for any other sport he might have in mind.

Next they tried hiking. Every other weekend Storm took a group of students hiking in the woods around the mansion. Miranda enjoyed spending time with the students and seeing the forest, but decided she wasn't the hiking type. She wasn't bothered by getting dirty, like a few of the students, but she just didn't enjoy being so far away from everything with no quicker way of getting back than hiking. Of course, she could always use her power to fly back to the mansion, but they were discouraged from using such shortcuts.

That weekend, Storm announced a special treat for the students. She was taking a small group into the forest to paddle canoes down the river. Miranda jumped at the chance, and Pete and Kitty both agreed to go with her. They were in a boat by themselves, while Storm was in a boat with three younger students. Only six people had signed up to go. Miranda was in the front of the boat, with Kitty behind her and Pete in the back. The section of the river they were on was smooth, so they quickly made it to the end of the area. There was a section of rapids ahead, but Storm had already told them to pull to the side before they reached that point. No one was experienced and she didn't want anyone getting hurt.

When they saw the dock where they were supposed to pull in, Miranda called behind her to tell them to change directions. The dock was close to the start of the rapids, so they had to paddle hard to keep their canoe heading in the right direction. As they neared the dock, Pete's end of the canoe began turning around and pulling them towards the rapids. Pete paddled harder and brought them close enough for Miranda to get out and tie the rope to the dock. Kitty got out next, but as she stepped off, the canoe was hit by a small wave, throwing her off balance. She toppled into the water and got caught by the current.

Pete immediately jumped in after her. He caught her quickly and began trying to swim to the side of the river, but the current was growing stronger the closer they got to the rapids. Not waiting another minute, Miranda jumped in after them. She reached them after a few seconds and grabbed hold of Pete. She tried to help him swim to the side, but the current was too strong and they were pulled into the rapids. Miranda realized that if Pete tried to use his metal form to get them out, he'd sink in the water. So she held on tight and began focusing her power. The water was swirling around them, knocking them against rocks, waves, and each other. Using her power, she slowed the rapids down. She couldn't stop the water altogether, but with the current slowed down, they floated down the river without being injured and made it to the end of the rapids safely. Once there, they quickly swam to the edge and began walking back to the dock.

"Thanks guys," Kitty said.

"No problem," Pete told her. "I gotta say, that was quick thinking on your part Miranda."

"Thanks. I figured you wouldn't transform because you'd sink so I used my power to slow down the water. It was harder than I thought though. There are a lot of twists and turn to concentrate on."

"How'd you do that?" Kitty asked. "I mean, how could you slow down the rapids like that?"

"I don't know exactly," she said with a shrug. "I focused on the water's path, and it was like I could see all the different ways it was moving, and then I just focused on slowing down the water so we wouldn't hit any of the rocks."

"Are you three okay?" Storm asked, suddenly standing in front of them.

They nodded and quickly explained what happened. As they talked, Miranda used her power to pulled the water out of their clothes to dry them. Storm then lead them back to the mansion, where they told their friends about their exciting adventure. Miranda also realized that she enjoyed canoeing very much. She figured it probably was due to the fact that it involved water. Pete was pleased to have helped her find a hobby, and they planned on doing more activities involving water. Miranda promised to dry them off if things ever got out of hand.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Miranda left the room with the others, wishing Scott had been there to help run the session instead of Logan. Unlike Scott, Logan didn't care so much about following the guidelines of the training exercises. After the first one, he'd taken his own approach to teaching them, adding in his own ideas and changing things on them when he deemed appropriate. Scott had always stuck to the plan, but he was still dealing with the depression that had been afflicting him since Jean's death. So the professor had asked Logan to step in again, this time teaming up with Storm, though not very successfully.

Miranda walked out with Pete talking about the things she'd noticed during the session. Something she didn't bring up though was Kitty hugging Bobby in order to save him from a missile, and Rogue seeing it. There had been some strange tension between Rogue and Bobby recently, everyone had felt it. She had tried to talk to Rogue about it, but the girl would close up and change subjects. Kitty had said she wasn't trying to get between the two or hurt their relationship, and Miranda believed her. The girl was just friendly, and sometimes it went a little too far. There were times when it seemed like Kitty flirted with Pete, but Miranda had learned to tell a difference. Rogue apparently still didn't know when Kitty was just being a friend or flirting. But Pete didn't notice those kinds of things. No, he usually noticed things like Miranda being tired from staying up too late talking with Rogue, or water reacting around her because something was bothering her. He may not notice things about their friends, but he noticed everything about her.

"What are you thinking about?" Pete asked her.

"Oh nothing," she said, catching his eye, "just how handsome you are when you're fighting the bad guys." She gave him a playful nudge before leaving him and going to her room to get some sleep.

The following day, she was working on her homework with Pete while some of the other students watched TV. Artie was flipping through the channels and came across the news, which he stopped on. The announcer caught the attention of Miranda and Pete, and they listened in shock as Worthington Labs announced their "cure" for mutants. Miranda noticed Rogue leave the room, but she was more focused on the conversation that had started concerning this announcement.

"How can they call it a cure?" one girl said. "We're not sick!"

"But there are mutants out there who don't want to be mutants," one boy said. "At least now they have a chance to live the life they want."

"If you're a mutant, then you're a mutant," someone else said. "Saying you don't want to be is like saying you want to change your hair color or eye color. It's not natural."

More and more comments continued to swirl around the room. Some of the students didn't care and left, but Miranda was interested in what they had to say. Those that opposed the "cure" said it was a mistake. They said that it was an insult and called them all a disease. Others said that if mutants wanted to get rid of their powers and live like a normal person, who were they to stop them. They said it was only fair to give them a choice. The conversation had changed into a debate, and that soon turned into a full-fledged argument. Not wanting to be around when the professor came down to calm them all down, Miranda and Pete headed outside to talk.

"What do you think?" Pete asked. Miranda was quiet for a moment as she thought over her answer.

"You know, a month or more ago, I would have jumped at the chance to get rid of my powers. I was afraid of them and what they could do." Pete nodded, knowing her history. "But now, after learning to control them, I've accepted them. Just like someone said in there, they're a part of me. They make me who I am, and I wouldn't give them up now for anything. Besides, if I wasn't a mutant, I never would have met you."

"I'm glad you feel that way, because I feel exactly the same." He slipped his arm around her waist and they walked around together for awhile. "Do you think Rogue wants to get the 'cure'?"

"I don't know. I know she's had a hard time accepting her powers. She's someone whose powers really limit her in life, not being able to touch anyone. I wouldn't blame her if she did, though it would be sad."

"But maybe her mutation isn't finished yet," Pete suggested. "Maybe she'll learn to control her power so she only borrows people's powers when she chooses to."

"That would be nice. I'm sure that would make Bobby happy too."

"Hey, give Bobby some credit. He never pressures her, and he's stuck by her knowing they can't touch."

Miranda did give him credit for that. It was one of the top reasons she thought he was a great guy and boyfriend. Even though it must be difficult to like someone so much but not be able to touch them, not even a hug when they're sad, he was still with Rogue. Hopefully Rogue knew that.

The following day, Miranda and the others were watching a movie in the living room when a loud piercing noise sounded in her head. Looking around, she guessed the others were experiencing the same noise. It only lasted a minute, but when it ended she saw Logan and Storm race into the professor's office and then back out. She watched as they headed downstairs. Excusing herself, she went to the professor's office, but he just told her that he needed some time alone to think. When she sat back down on the couch, she just shrugged her shoulders and they finished watching the movie.

A little over an hour later, Miranda heard the jet return. She saw the professor leave his office and head downstairs, most likely to meet with Logan and Storm. After a half hour, and unable to hold herself back any longer, she went downstairs. The hallway was as quiet as usual. None of the doors were open, nor were Logan, Storm, or the professor in sight. Finally, she stopped in the middle and sent out her power like a sensor, looking for any large amounts of water in a particular room. In the room at the far end she sensed not three, but four people in the room. Coming back to herself, she walked down to the room and knocked. Storm opened the door a moment later and closed it behind her.

"What do you need Miranda?" she asked, her eyes moist with tears.

"What's going on? You and Logan left in a hurry after that weird noise, and now you've been down here with the professor and someone else for over an hour. And you're crying," she added, never having seen the older woman cry.

"Miranda, I don't know how to explain this," Storm said, pausing to think. "The professor told Logan and I to go to Alkali Lake, and when we got there, we found Jean." Miranda stared at the woman. "She's alive."

Storm went back into the room, leaving Miranda there staring after her. Jean was alive? It wasn't possible. The professor told them how she died. They'd had a service for her. Miranda ever got up and spoke. She talked about how much Jean had done for her, helping her with her power and learning to control it. And now she was alive? Should she tell the others? How could she not? The professor surely wouldn't try to keep this a secret. Everyone would be thrilled to know Jean was alive, Scott most of all. But Scott wasn't even here. He'd left yesterday and never returned. But what condition was Jean in? Her friends would want to know everything, but Miranda wasn't going to knock on the door again and disturb the group in there. No, everyone would just have to be satisfied with knowing Jean was alive.

"She's alive?!" Kitty asked, gripping Miranda by the shoulders after hearing the news.

"They found her at the lake."

"Where was she? She couldn't have just washed up on shore after all this time."

"What condition is she in?" Pete asked. "Is she okay?"

"I don't know, Storm didn't tell me. She just told me Jean was alive and went back into the room."

"Should we tell everyone else?" Kitty asked.

"I don't know."

"I think we might want to wait and see what the professor wants," Pete said. "He may want to wait, depending on Jean's condition."

They all agreed to let the professor tell everyone else, but it was difficult to keep the exciting news to themselves. They decided to stay outside to get away from everyone. Most of the students were busy with homework though, so it didn't matter. The professor called them to his office that evening to talk to them.

"I've gathered Miranda has told you about Jean's surprising survival," he told them, looking each of them in the eye. "I also know that you haven't told any of the other students, which I thank you for. I wanted to make that announcement for myself, as Jean's condition is fragile. She's in a coma at the moment, and I'm not sure what she'll be like when she wakes up. So please, even though I'm sure you all want to go down and visit her, I must ask you to stay away for the time being. I'll be making an announcement to everyone tonight. If you five could keep an eye on some of the younger ones, I would greatly appreciate it."

They all promised to help out where they could, and followed him as he left to make the announcement. After her finished, surprisingly he left them to head back downstairs, presumably to Jean. Some of the students were excited, some were in shock, and others burst into tears, mainly the young girls. Kitty and Miranda went to work comforting the girls while Pete and Bobby helped any boys that needed it. Rogue stayed in the background, but helped two little girls sitting in the back corner of the room. Slowly they helped all the younger ones to bed and then headed to bed themselves, tired from the emotional events of the day.


	14. Chapter 14

The professor cancelled his classes the next day. Everyone knew he was spending all his time with Jean, though they didn't know what he was doing. She was apparently still in a coma, but Miranda could tell there was more to the story. Pete agreed with her that they didn't know everything, but trusted the professor to tell them what was important. In place of class, Pete and Miranda decided to go on a walk. They had been outside for almost an hour when they heard a loud crash from the front of the mansion. Without wasting any time both took off running to see what happened.

"Is that Jean?" Miranda asked. She stared as the woman walked out of the mansion, through a large hole in the side of the building.

Neither knew what to say or do. Miranda wanted to run over to Jean, but clearly that would be a mistake. Jean had blasted a hole in the mansion and was leaving. Her face looked calm and determined, but unhappy. They stood there silently as Jean left the mansion. Only after the woman disappeared did they move. They ran inside the mansion and sought out the professor.

"What's going on?" Miranda asked.

"I don't have time to explain, I'm afraid, but I must go after Jean. Logan and Storm will be coming with me. I'm leaving you two in charge of things until we return." He disappeared with the older mutants into the jet, leaving Miranda and Pete standing in the hallway speechless.

"So what do we do now?"

"I don't think we need to do anything right now," Pete said. "All the classes are done for the day, and we don't have a Danger Room session tonight." Miranda nodded and followed Pete back upstairs to the living room, where they found Bobby and Kitty sitting on a couch.

"Who left in the jet?" Bobby asked.

"And what happened to the wall?" Kitty asked.

Miranda quickly explained about Jean's departure and the group going after her while Pete brought some heavy-duty plastic to cover up the hole in the wall. Bobby helped him while they talked about what could have happened with Jean and what they would do if the group didn't return by morning.

"Where's Rogue?" Miranda asked, suddenly realizing the girl was missing.

"She went up to her room earlier," Kitty answered. "She said she had some sketching to do."

Miranda nodded, but wondered if she had been brooding over Bobby and Kitty again. She seemed to be spending more time by herself in the room, and Miranda was beginning to worry about her. Clearly Bobby's relationship with Kitty was bothering her, and Miranda wanted to help her see there was nothing going on between the two other than friendship. The boys had finished covering up the hole and were sitting on the couch. Miranda could tell they wanted to talk about what happened, so she decided she could wait to talk to Rogue.

"Why would Jean leave?" Bobby asked to no one in particular. They all shrugged in response, having no explanation. He was sitting on the couch across from Pete, next to Kitty, though she was keeping her distance in case Rogue joined them. Miranda sat down next to Pete.

"The Professor seemed worried when he left," Pete commented. He and Miranda had discussed the strange events several times already since the older mutants left, but had come to no conclusion. "Could something have happened to Jean, something maybe gone wrong?" Everyone shrugged again. Rogue came into the room then and sat down in the chair next to Miranda rather than sit next to Bobby. A long silence followed the already existing silence from before Rogue appeared.

"We can't just keep sitting here talking about it or we'll all go mad," Kitty finally said.

"What do you propose we do?" Bobby asked.

Kitty said nothing. She sat back in the couch and thought. The others did the same, though most drifted back to their questions about Jean.

"We should run a danger room session!" Kitty said finally.

"How can we do that?" Miranda asked. "We don't know how to run them."

"I've seen Scott run them before," Pete said.

"So have I," Bobby added. "It didn't look that hard."

"We shouldn't mess with the Danger Room without the Professor," Miranda said. "We could break it, or get hurt." Having grown to love her life at the mansion, Miranda didn't want to risk getting kicked out. She knew the professor would only kick a person out in extreme circumstances, but she didn't want to take a chance.

"Let's at least check it out," Bobby said. "It beats sitting here."

The five of them got off the couches and made their way to the Danger Room. Miranda let the others lead. She didn't know where the control room was. She'd never seen it from inside the Danger Room, though she had occasionally wondered where it was in the past. Bobby led the group, walking through a door Miranda never bothered to notice before. Inside they saw a panel covered in screens and switches, and a window ran the length of the wall, showing them the empty Danger Room. Bobby sat down in one of the chairs.

"Here's where they pick the simulations we run," he told them, pointing to a screen in the center of the desk. He pushed his chair to the left. "And here's where they control the weaponry, guns and targets." Pete joined the explanation.

"Here are the switches that control the floor movements."

"So that's why we never run into any walls when we're running through a forest," Miranda commented.

"I think Pete and I can set things up if we want to have a session." The girls looked at each other, unsure. "We should be able to set up a specific simulation so all five of us can participate."

"Let's try it," Kitty said. "We can always shut it down if things start going wrong."

The others agreed to give it a try. Bobby and Pete spent a few minutes setting up a timed session that involved destroying enemy robots. It was a simple simulation and one they were all familiar with. The robots would advance and attack with minimal weapons. There would be five total, one for each person. Rogue decided to borrow Pete's powers for the simulation.

The simulation started when they entered the Danger Room. The five robots appeared and advanced towards the group. Pete and Rogue transformed to metal form and ran at their robots. Both robots fired a few shots but with no effect. The two mutants reached the robots and began punching the chests to destroy the control unit. Bobby froze his robot in place before it could fire at him. He then ran to it and began breaking it apart. Miranda drew moisture from the air to form her water whip, but instead of attacking with the whip, she wormed it into the robot's chest to short circuit its control unit. Kitty ran straight at her robot, phasing through it and its attacks. Once behind it, she phased it and sunk it into the ground. Unable to move, Kitty easily opened up its back and shut down its control units. With all the robots shut down, all five disappeared.

"That didn't take very long," Kitty commented.

"You should make sure everything is shut down in the control room before we leave," Miranda said to Bobby. He nodded and began jogging towards the exit. As he reached the door and tried to open it, lights flashed and a woman's voice began repeating the word "intruders" over the loud speakers.

"What'd you do?" Rogue asked. Bobby had no time to respond.

Guns began appearing that were previously hidden behind wall tiles. They began firing at the group of teenagers in the center of the room. The teenagers scattered across the room, each trying to defend themselves against the attack. Kitty phased through the wall to get into the control room to try and stop the attack. Rogue transformed into her metal form which allowed her to get hit without getting injured. Pete also transformed into his metal form and used himself as a shield to protect Miranda. Rogue ran to Bobby, who was still standing by the door, and used herself to protect him. Miranda used water to try and disable to guns the same way she had the robot, but they seemed impervious to the water. Bobby tried to help, and was able to freeze the guns, but Rogue and Pete were afraid to leave their friends unprotected to destroy the frozen guns. So the guns that were frozen continued firing and eventually broke free again.

Kitty was visible in the control room through the windows, which Bobby had left open. It was clear she was having no luck shutting down the room's defenses. Pete left Miranda and ran towards the room. He jumped through the window and helped Kitty shut down the guns. When they disappeared behind the walls once again, the others quickly left the Danger Room and joined the pair in the control room.

"I'm sorry guys," Kitty said. "I think I caused the control panel to stop working when I phased through it."

"Don't be sorry, you were only trying to help," Bobby said.

"So what happened?" Miranda asked. "Why did the Danger Room suddenly turn against us and start firing at us?" No one spoke immediately.

"Obviously we forgot something when we set up the simulation," Pete said. "For now, let's make sure everything's shut down and leave before something else goes wrong."

Everyone agreed. The teens left the Danger Room, after making sure everything was shut off, and returned to the living room. They watched a movie until dinner time. They decided to sit in the kitchen to eat and were getting food out when they heard the X-jet return. Immediately they all rushed downstairs to greet the returning mutants. When they reached the jet, they saw Logan exit first. Though it was hard to believe, the man was crying. Next came Storm. She too was crying, but she was also pushing the Professor's wheelchair down the ramp. All five teens stopped and stared. They couldn't understand what it all meant. Where was the Professor? Where was Jean? And why were Storm and Logan crying? No one wanted to ask the question, but Storm finally said what they'd been refusing to accept.

"I'm sorry," she said through her tears. "He's gone."

Storm began crying anew, and in an uncharacteristic gesture, Logan placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. The teens stood speechless, unable to respond to the shocking news. They'd expected the Professor to return with Jean. Not only was Jean not back, but the Professor was dead. How had this happened? Where was Jean? Who killed the Professor? What would happen now?


	15. Chapter 15

Kitty was the first of the teens to start crying, but with her tears came more, and the others all started crying too. Kitty turned and walked out, presumably to her room. Bobby put a comforting hand on Rogue's shoulder, but she shrugged it off and also left the room. Bobby followed her without a glance at the others. Storm wheeled the Professor's chair out, followed by Logan, leaving Miranda and Pete in the room.

Neither spoke. What was there to say? Miranda was devastated. It didn't seem real. The professor had been there for her when no one else was, when no one else wanted to be. He had taken the place of her biological father in her life, behaving as her father never had but should have. And now he was gone. Suddenly she couldn't bear it any more. More tears came and giant sobs wracked her body as she tried to breathe. Pete pulled her over and held her tightly. She gratefully wrapper her arms around him, comforted by his presence and his silence. They stood there like that for several minutes, letting their grief take over. Finally Miranda breathed easier and her tears slowed, bur didn't stop. Pete took a step back, kept one arm wrapped around her, and without a word gently guided her out of the room and outside.

They walked around outside, breathing in the cool night air. It refreshed them, gave them a sense of peace. Inside they knew Storm and Logan were dealing with telling the rest of the students the hard news, and they would be needed to help some of the younger ones deal with their emotions, but for now they took comfort in the stillness outside and in each other's presence.

"What are you thinking about?" Pete asked, finally breaking the silence. Miranda took a few deep breaths before speaking.

"I'm thinking about how much he meant to me," she answered honestly. "He was like a father to me, much more than my real father ever was. He broke through my barriers and helped me work through my past. I don't know where I'd be without him. He–" she broke off, a lump forming in her throat. Pete hugged her from the side as they continued walked.

"He was a good man. He was there for everyone, no matter what. I had a hard time fitting in here when I first came, but he helped me find my place and make friends. He was the one who encouraged me to get to know Bobby better, and he's my best friend now. The Professor always seemed to know exactly what we needed, and I don't think it's because he could read our minds." Miranda couldn't help but smile at that last statement, and Pete smiled back at her.

"I think it's time we headed inside. Storm and Logan could probably use our help with the kids by now." Miranda agreed and they headed inside.

Most of the kids were in their rooms, most likely wanting to deal with their grief in private. Kitty was sitting on the floor with two of the youngest girls in the school, holding them and rocking them as they cried almost hysterically into her shoulders. Tears were still slowly sliding down her cheeks. When she saw Miranda, she gave a half smile. Miranda returned the expression.

Heading upstairs, she decided against knocking on doors. She thought the best thing to do would be to leave her door open so anyone who needed someone would know she was there. Pete found a group of boys arguing downstairs and had left her to deal with them. Upon entering her room, she found Rogue curled up on the bed. Still leaving the door open a crack, she went over to her friend.

"Rogue, are you okay?" It was a stupid question, considering the news they'd all received, but it was the only question that came to mind to start a conversation with. The girl didn't respond. Miranda gently sat on the edge of the bed. "Rogue?" The girl looked up at her. "Is there anything I can do?" Rogue said nothing at first, but then slowly sat up against the wall, facing Miranda, and began talking.

"I don't know how to react," she said quietly. "I mean, the Professor was like the heart of this place. Already it feels like it's falling apart without him here. He ran this place, so what's going to happen to the school without him? Jean's gone and Scott's dead. That leaves Storm, and Logan if he decides to stick around." Miranda's head shot up at the mention of Scott's death. She hadn't heard that information yet.

"Scott's dead?"

"Oh, I guess you were with Pete when they announced that. Yeah, apparently Jean, who's being controlled by her powers, killed him when he left a few days ago. She's the one who killed the Professor too." Miranda was shocked by this news, but had no time to process it as Rogue continued talking. "Why would we want to keep this place open? It'll only remind us of him. Maybe we _should_ close it down, start a new school somewhere else. But then, this school is the only safe place we mutants have." At this point Rogue seemed to have forgotten Miranda was there and was simply thinking out loud.

"He started this school because he cared about us, about mutants. He wanted us to have a safe place to go when the world turned against us. He knew each and every one of us that came here. He understood us. He understood me. I told him everything, and he tried to help me. He and Jean thought my mutation hadn't finished yet, that it might progress to the point where I could touch people and only take their powers or life force if I wanted. But without him, even if my powers do get to that point, how will I know? How will I learn to control it? How will any of us learn to control our powers? It's not fair!" she shouted, and seemed to notice Miranda again. "Sorry."

"Don't be, it's good to get it all out," Miranda said, hoping to encourage the girl to continue talking and not clam up and bottle up her emotions like she had been doing recently.

"It's hard, you know. You probably understand. The professor was the one who helped me the most. He was always encouraging me to keep trying to control my powers, to not give up. He always gave me hope. Without him, it seems like my hope of controlling my powers died with him." Rogue took a breath to keep speaking, but stopped and hung her head. Miranda could hear the quiet sobs. Not giving herself time to second guess her decision, she sat next to Rogue and put her arms around the girl, hoping to comfort her. Rogue hugged Miranda back and the two stayed on the bed like that for some time. Rogue eventually pulled away and they both agreed it was time for bed.

The following day all classes were cancelled. They only had one teacher left, Storm, and she was busy setting up a memorial service for the Professor. Logan stayed outside most of the day, only eating his meals in the mansion. The students also spent most of their time in their rooms. Some played games downstairs, others went outside, but there was a definite sense of loss throughout the mansion. No one smiled. Few spoke, including those playing games. Miranda spent some time with Kitty, who said little, and Rogue, who said even less. She ate dinner with Pete, and they went into the library and read together for awhile, but then went back upstairs to go to sleep. Storm told everyone that the memorial service for the Professor would be the next day.

Miranda had very few black clothes, and even fewer dressy items. Most of her wardrobe consisted of jeans and tank tops. She was able to borrow a black skirt from Rogue, who was the same size as her, and wore a black sweater over her white blouse. She, along with some of the other students, helped Storm set up chairs outside. A man arrived with a headstone, which Storm directed him where to place. Apparently the man was a mutant and an old friend of the Professor's, so he'd agreed to make the headstone in time for the service. Storm also ordered one for Scott, but it wouldn't be ready for a few days.

As people started arriving, Miranda noticed how many friends, both mutant and non-mutant alike, the Professor had. She wasn't surprised, as it was hard not to like him, but she was surprised at how many showed up with such short notice. She took a seat next to Pete, across the aisle from Bobby, Rogue, and Kitty. Storm spoke a few short words, very appropriate considering the circumstances. She then allowed people to stand up and say a few words if they wanted. Only a few people got up, most either overcome by emotion or too shy to speak in front of so many people. As another person sat down, Miranda knew she would regret not saying anything. To her surprise, Pete stood up and pulled her up with him.

"Professor Xavier was a good friend and mentor," Pete said. "I'll always remember his wisdom and patience for dealing with everything life gave him." He then stepped back, squeezed her hand, and gave her a knowing look. How well he knew her.

"Professor Xavier was like a father to me," she started, reiterating her words to Pete. "He helped me work through some hard things and never once gave up on me. I'll never forget his kindness and ability to genuinely care about people, whether they were a mutant or not."

Pete followed her as she sat down and continued to hold her hand through the rest of the service. At the end, everyone got up and walked past the headstone, where a small flame burned at the base. Miranda watched as Rogue knelt down and laid a rose next to the flame. Storm had bought flowers for all of the students who wanted one to put by the headstone. Many had declined, though Miranda couldn't understand why. When it was her turn, she put her flower next to Rogue's and gently put her hand on the headstone, the tips of her fingers touching the profile that had been carved there. Then she removed her hand and moved forward, allowing the next person to pay their final respects.

She hadn't had a final thought she'd wanted to send to the professor, some final farewell like others she knew. Instead, she'd just had a sense of hope when she touched his face. It felt like he was still with them, watching out for them all, even though he was gone. She missed him terribly and wished he would surprise them all by coming through the front door, but she knew that wouldn't happen. So she held onto that sense of hope and planned to spend her life in a way that would make him proud, to honor everything he did for her.


	16. Chapter 16

When Miranda went to bed that night, she noticed Rogue still up. She was still fully dressed and lying in bed, reading. "What are you doing up so late?" she asked. Rogue shrugged and kept her eyes on her book. "Can't sleep?" Miranda tried again. Rogue only nodded. Miranda thought of something else to get the girl's attention. "So what do you think about the 'cure'?" Rogue's eyes paused over her book for an instant.

"I think those people are just trying to help mutants the only way they know how."

"Do you think it's right?" This time Rogue looked at her when she responded.

"I don't think there's a wrong or right. I think they just want to help mutants and this is what they thought of. Some mutants will take it, some won't; it's not like they're forcing us to take it. I mean, I don't think you realize how hard it is for some mutants. There are those of us who have a harder time dealing with our powers and living life."

Miranda was surprised at Rogue's response. Obviously the 'cure' was bothering her, and Miranda had to wonder if she was thinking about getting it. Rogue ended their conversation though by saying a quick goodnight and turning out the lights. Miranda felt like something had happened to make Rogue distant again. They'd seemed closer after the talk they had the other night, though both were dealing with their grief in their own way. But now Rogue seemed to be pushing her away again. She fell asleep hoping to talk with Rogue more to find out what happened, and to see where she stood on the 'cure' issue.

The next morning, Miranda turned over and saw an empty bed. She knew Rogue had left to get the 'cure', though she wished she'd been able to talk to her more the previous night. When she ate breakfast with Pete, she told him about Rogue leaving, and he agreed with her suspicions that she'd left to get the 'cure'.

Classes still hadn't resumed, as they still only had one teacher, and Storm was now forced into taking over the Professor's position. She was in charge of the school. She was in a meeting all morning with Logan and someone named Hank McCoy, though Bobby heard him also referred to as "Beast". No one knew what they were discussing, but they knew it was serious. Bobby and Kitty had managed to find a way to sit in on the meeting while Miranda and Pete stayed downstairs to keep an eye on the students.

"Jones, just because you can control the TV doesn't give you the right too," Miranda told the boy yet again. He seemed to enjoy provoking other students by changing the channel they were watching. He particularly enjoyed bothering Jubilee, who always responded rather explosively.

"He always does this to me!" Jubilee shouted, jumping up from the couch and walking over to where Jones sat on the couch. "He knows we're not supposed to use our powers like that but he does it anyways, and he never gets in trouble!"

"Jubilee, he does get in trouble," Pete said calmly, "but right now things are a little difficult."

"I don't care!" She kicked Jones' leg and stomped off, sparks flying from her hand, a common occurrence when she was upset. A few of the sparks landed on the TV and everyone watched as it shorted out. Jubilee looked at Miranda and Peter, her face red with embarrassment, and ran from the room.

"Guess I'd better go get another TV," Pete said and left the room. He returned a few minutes later carrying a large TV with one arm. Miranda couldn't help but chuckle at the sight he presented. She still sometimes marveled at his strength, forgetting how strong he was even without being in metal form. "I ran into Bobby in the hall upstairs," he told Miranda when he'd finished setting up the TV. "He was looking for Rogue."

"What'd you tell him?"

"The truth, I told him she took off. I didn't mention our thoughts about her getting the 'cure', but I'm pretty sure he came to the same conclusion."

"What do you think he'll do?"

"I think he's going to try and find her. He really cares about her, and doesn't care that her power means they can't touch."

"Maybe if he finds her he'll be able to convince her," she said. She was beginning to wonder though if Rogue was doing this for herself rather than for Bobby. The girl seemed to have serious issues with her mutation, understandably so. Miranda pushed those thoughts aside and returned her attention to the young girl sitting next to her, who she was tutoring in English.

Later that day, Pete discovered he had a new roommate. It was unexpected, though not unwelcome. Pete thought it might be nice to have a roommate again. The young man seemed shy, but looked familiar. He wasn't aware Pete had even entered the room until Pete cleared his throat. He turned around and the two looked at each other.

"Hi, my name's Pete. I hear you're my new roommate." He extended his hand to the stranger, who accepted the proffered hand.

"My name is Warren. I can find a different room if you don't want a roommate," he said.

"That's not necessary. Really, I'm looking forward to having a new roommate. Where are you from?"

"Well, most recently from California, but New York before that." He seemed to not want to talk about his past, so Pete moved on to a different subject.

"What's your power? I can turn myself into metal." He demonstrated his ability, which caused Warren to take a step back but out of surprise, not fear. He recovered quickly.

"That's amazing," he said, sounding in awe of Pete's ability. "I have wings." He took off his large overcoat and turned around. Pete saw a harness which kept a pair of beautiful white wings folded close to Warren's back.

"Wow," Pete said. He'd never seen anything like that. He was impressed. "That harness is really neat. How often do you keep it on?"

"I keep it on most of the time," Warren said, putting his coat back on.

"You don't need to keep it on here," Pete said, thinking it must be uncomfortable to keep those large wings restricted for so long. "We're all mutants, so there's no need to hide your wings from us. You can let them loose as often as you'd like, just try not to knock anything over," he added, trying to lighten the mood.

Warren smiled, a shy expression, and slowly unlatched his harness. His wings immediately spread out on either side of him, spanning a good four feet both ways Pete guessed. Behind him he heard someone standing in the doorway. He knew it would be Miranda, and hoped Warren wouldn't be upset by the new arrival.

"Wow," Miranda said from behind him.

Warren immediately reacted to seeing Miranda standing there looking at his wings. He tried to fold the up behind him, to make them less visible, but only knocked over his bags and a few of Pete's possessions with his movements.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you. I've never seen anything like your wings before. They're beautiful." Warren slowly stopped moving and looked at Miranda. "I'm Miranda, Pete's girlfriend." She extended her hand, and Warren shook it.

"Warren, Pete's new roommate."

"Nice to meet you," she told him pleasantly. "I came to get Pete. We're meeting some friends downstairs for a snack and to practice outside. You're welcome to join us. You don't have to practice either, you can just watch if you want."

"Thanks. I need to unpack though." Warren turned back to the bags that now lay on the floor.

"Well, we'll be outside if you change your mind." Warren nodded, and Pete left with Miranda. "Why didn't you tell me you had a new roommate?"

"I didn't know until about five minutes before you showed up. I'm just as surprised as you. What do you think of him?"

"He seems nice, though a bit shy. Of course, I can't imagine it's an easy transition for anyone to living in a mansion with a bunch of mutants. Do you like him?"

"I do. I agree that he's shy, but he's nice. He didn't seem to want to talk about his background though. I wonder if there's something there that he doesn't want us to know about."

Miranda shrugged but hoped Warren would join them. As they began practicing using their powers outside, she kept glancing back at the mansion, hoping to see Warren coming out to join them. He never appeared, and more than once Miranda ended up getting hit by something because she wasn't paying attention.

Bobby had agreed to join them when he'd returned from his search for Rogue, but his mind was elsewhere. Everyone could see he was thinking about Rogue, wondering where she was, why she left, why she wanted the 'cure'. He'd told them about his encounter with John at the 'cure' facility. They wondered what he was up to, working with Magneto. Surely he'd have some response to the 'cure'. Miranda could tell all Bobby wanted to do was visit each and every 'cure' facility and find Rogue. He truly cared about her, and she wished Rogue could see that.


	17. Chapter 17

Pete got Warren to join them for dinner. He was a few years older than them, they discovered, being in his early twenties, but they didn't care. They tried to include him in the conversation, asked him questions, but he stayed withdrawn. Still, they were determined to get to know him and to make him more comfortable with them. He left them quickly after dinner to return to his room, and they let him.

"I can't remember everything about when I first arrived," Kitty said once they were all seated in the living room, "but I can remember feeling scared. It's hard not knowing anyone, and even though you're surrounded by mutants, you still feel worried."

"It's like the world drills it into our heads that because we're mutants there's something wrong with us," Miranda said. "It makes it hard to relax, even when we're in a safe place."

"I still wonder about everyone getting the 'cure'," Bobby said. "I mean, being a mutant has been a part of them, so once that goes away, will they feel the same? Won't they feel like something's missing? Do you think she'll regret it?"

No one answered. Everyone wanted Rogue to change her mind and come back without having taken the cure, but they all had their doubts. Miranda had also wondered if Rogue would regret her decision later on, if not at first. She could probably still live at the mansion, Storm wouldn't just kick her out, but it wouldn't be the same.

The following day, Miranda was sitting in the living room with the others watching TV when Magneto suddenly appeared on the screen. He was giving an ultimatum, and bringing his war to the world. He told them, his "fellow mutants" to join him or stay out of his way, but they knew they couldn't do that. Normally the X-Men would have jumped into the X-jet at this point and rushed off to fight him, but only Storm and Logan were around now.

"I guess it'll be up to us now to fight Magneto," Kitty said quietly.

"Do you think Storm and Logan are coming up with a plan?" Miranda asked. No one answered her. Logan came down the stairs at that moment and rushed out the door. They heard him drive off, and wondered where he was going in such a hurry. Miranda decided to ask Storm.

"He's leaving to do something he thinks he has to do," Storm said with a bit of an edge to her voice. It wasn't like Storm to get angry, or at least not show it. Miranda was confused.

"But where's he going? Is he going to fight Magneto? Shouldn't we be going with him? Do you have a plan yet?"

"He's not going to fight Magneto." She sighed, then sat down. "He's going after Jean." Now it was Miranda's turn to sit down. "He thinks he can talk her into returning to the mansion and leaving Magneto."

"Jean's with Magneto now?" None of them had been told where Jean went after she left, only that she had killed the Professor.

"Yes. After she killed the Professor, she left with Magneto. Logan is determined to bring her back though."

Miranda suddenly understood. "He loves her, doesn't he?" Storm nodded.

"I need to figure out what we're going to do about Magneto, whether or not Logan returns with Jean." She laid her hand on Miranda's shoulder for a moment, comforting her in her shock, and then left the room.

Miranda went to sit in her bedroom instead of returning to the living room where the others were still waiting for her to return. She knew eventually Pete would come find her, but until then she needed to think.

Jean was on Magneto's side. Jean had never been the strongest mutant in the mansion, though she was still plenty strong, but somehow Miranda thought she had more power than she'd originally thought. She did exit the mansion through a giant hole in the wall she created. If she was fighting with Magneto and John, who were also powerful mutants, any more mutants that joined his cause would create a powerful army to fight against. Perhaps it was time she tried practicing again. Things had been so crazy the past few days that none of them had been practicing much, aside from their disastrous Danger Room session the other night.

Miranda left her room and went outside, wanting to begin practicing immediately. Who knew when they would have to fight, and she wanted to be ready. She began by forming her water whip and attacking various plants nearby. Next she began focusing on the water inside some of the plants and drawing it out, killing several of the vines crawling up the wall that surrounded the mansion. Being focused on the moisture around her, she felt Pete approach and waited for him to speak.

"What are you doing out here?" Pete asked from behind her.

"What's it look like? I'm practicing."

"Yes, but why?"

"We're going to have to fight Magneto soon, and he has Jean and John on his side, and maybe others. If we want to beat them, we need to be strong. We haven't had a decent practice in several days so I wanted to have my own practice. Storm's too busy with everything right now to run a proper Danger Room session, and I'm not going in there again without someone who's been trained to run the simulations."

"Want me to get the others? Then we could all practice. It might also help Bobby get his mind off Rogue." Miranda nodded, and Pete left to get them. They returned a few minutes later.

"So what do you want to do?" Bobby asked. She could tell he was eager to be active and get his mind on something else.

"I thought we might pair up and spar, and switch off partners every so often so we get a chance to fight everyone. Or we could just fight each other all at once. I just feel like it's important to be prepared whenever Magneto strikes."

They agreed they needed the practice, and decided to spar in pairs and switch off. They fought for a few hours, resting in the middle and getting some water. Miranda enjoyed sparring with Bobby the most, finding him to be the strongest opponent of the four. She spent the most time with him, but also wanted to give sufficient time to Pete and Kitty to fight against someone with powers very different from their own. Eventually they decided it was time to go to bed. All four were exhausted and fell asleep immediately when they reached their beds.

Logan returned in the afternoon. He looked beat up, or at least his clothes did, but he wasted no time in seeking Storm out. Kitty had seen him arrive and ran to tell the others. They knew it was time to fight. They'd been planning on running another practice session that night, but now that was the last thing on their minds. Miranda followed the others to a room near the Danger Room, where they found black leather uniforms specially designed for them. Miranda didn't think there'd be one for her. She hadn't been there or trained long enough.

"Miranda, aren't you going to get into your uniform?" Kitty asked her.

"I don't have one."

"Sure you do. I was here when Storm brought it in." Kitty opened up a locker-sized door next to hers and pulled out another uniform. Miranda inspected it and discovered it had been tailored to her exact size. When she put it on, it fit perfectly. Despite being made of leather, the material moved easily and didn't constrict her movement. She noticed each uniform was set off by a unique color. Her uniform was trimmed with a bright blue. She thought the color was appropriate, since her power was water.

"When did this get here?" Miranda asked, completely surprised.

"It came about a week ago," Kitty said. "I'm sure the Professor would have told you, but. . ." She didn't finish her sentence, but everyone knew what she meant. He never got the chance to tell Miranda because he'd become busy with Jean and then he died so suddenly.

"Let's go find Storm and Logan and help them defeat Magneto," Bobby said.

They all filed out into the hall and had no trouble finding the older mutants. They were surprised though to see Dr. McCoy with them, wearing a suit similar to theirs. Storm and Logan were also wearing their suits. Bobby did the talking, telling Logan they were ready. They got onto the X-jet, surprised yet again when Storm and Logan didn't put up a fight at them coming. Miranda sat next to Pete, taking deep breaths.

"You okay?" Pete asked her. He grabbed her hand and gave it an encouraging squeeze.

"Yeah. I was just thinking how the last fight I was in was protecting the mansion from those soldiers, before Jean died. It was scary. I'm just hoping we'll all be okay."

Pete smiled at her, and they stopped talking. There wasn't much any of them could say. They were all hoping everyone would come back alive, but they all knew the risk was that none of them would live. There was the chance they would lose the fight, being so few in number. But there were going to fight anyways. Miranda had learned to love everything and everyone in the school, and she had adopted the Professor's view of the world. The humans were afraid of them, true, and many wanted to kill all the mutants, but that didn't give them the right to use their powers to turn around and attack the humans. Miranda's thoughts turned to the battle ahead of them as they landed on Alcatraz.


	18. Chapter 18

Storm had explained the situation on the ride over so they had some idea what to expect. They knew thanks to Logan what Magneto was planning and how many mutants he had, though the number was larger than they expected. Still, they exited the jet and listened as Logan told them to form a line and hold the mutants back. Miranda flexed her hands, nervous about what would happen. She was grateful for the location of the battle though, because being surrounded by water gave her plenty to manipulate.

Soon mutants began pouring onto the island from the bridge Magneto had ripped apart and set there. She formed her water whip and began beating back any mutants that came near her. It worked for awhile, but soon there were more mutants than she could handle with a single whip. She let that fall and instead brought up a wave of water over the side of the island and washed away all the mutants in front of her and the other X-Men. But they kept coming back. One mutant seemed impervious to her wave attack, and she realized he could phase like Kitty. Carefully concentrating to not lose control, she slowly drew the moisture out of his body, to the point where he couldn't phase anymore because he was too weak. Then Pete knocked him out.

Miranda could see Magneto standing on the bridge with Jean and John. There were also a few other mutants up there, but she couldn't focus on them. There were too many other mutants, all less powerful, to deal with first. She saw Pete to her right knocking people out left and right. Bobby was fighting with his hands mostly, but still used his powers where he could. Dr. McCoy was fighting like Logan, and she could see why his nickname was "Beast". Kitty had a harder time fighting off the mutants, being weaker than the men, but she held her own. Storm had become occupied with one mutant who moved at lightning speed. Miranda would have helped Storm out, but she was busy fighting mutants herself and Storm soon gained the upper hand.

One of the mutants with Magneto left the bridge and ran straight for the building behind them. She heard someone yell out that he was going for the boy, Jimmy, the origin of the 'cure', and Kitty went into the building first to try and save the boy. Miranda wished her luck, knowing she at least had the advantage of being able to phase through walls and not have to break through them.

Miranda suddenly found herself facing a stronger mutant, one who had made it through her wave attack. He began a series of kicks and punches, similar to the attacks Mystique used when Miranda fought her. She began using the fighting techniques Pete taught her, blocking the punches to her face and chest, her most important areas. Then he twisted his leg around and kicked Miranda behind the leg, causing her to stumble backwards. He punched her in the chest and knocked her to the ground. Miranda quickly drew moisture around her and began beating him back with her water whip. She wrapped it around his ankle and threw him off balance. Next she wrapped him in a wave of water and sent him flying off the island entirely, into the ocean.

She turned around and saw something new coming at her. Magneto had begun sending cars from the bridge flying towards them, burning with fire thanks to John. Bobby stepped out and was using his powers to put out the fires. Miranda did the same. Magneto sent two more cars out, and Miranda doused the first one while Bobby took care of the second, barely stopping it in time. Then the cars stopped momentarily as John left the bridge to face off against Bobby. Miranda ignored the two, knowing they had a score to settle between them. But Magneto started up his attack again.

Quickly she took cover behind one of the cars and saw Pete threw Logan directly towards Magneto. Pete noticed her and took cover next to her, and together they watched the scene unfold on the bridge. Dr. McCoy was just reaching Magneto, and they watched him stab him with some of the 'cure' needles from the soldiers' guns. Logan was addressing Jean when a large group of soldiers arrived on the bridge behind them, probably backup that hadn't reached the island in time for the main attack. Then several things happened at once. Jean stopped an attack by the soldiers, things began exploding and disintegrating everywhere, and the older mutants by the bridge were yelling for everyone to get out.

Miranda and Pete immediately raced towards the bridge, reaching it quickly. They saw Bobby struggling to drag an unconscious John behind him. Pete jumped down and picked John up, throwing him over his shoulder. Bobby then turned around and helped Kitty, who was with a young boy dressed all in white. Miranda had forgotten Kitty went after the boy who helped create the 'cure'. But Miranda looked around and saw all the destruction Jean was causing. Everything was disintegrating. She was a class five mutant, one of the few the professor had ever encountered. Her powers had no limits.

"If no one stops her soon, she could reach out and destroy us all," she heard Dr. McCoy say to Storm behind her.

Logan was trying to reach Jean, but even he was barely making progress. Miranda didn't think about her next move. She focused all her energy on the water surrounding the island and raised her arms. Slowly, water rose up from the ocean, forming a liquid barrier between Jean's powers on the island and San Francisco. She hoped that if Jean tried to spread her powers that far, maybe she would have a hard time getting past Miranda's watery barrier. It was difficult keeping that much water that high in the air, but she was determined. She began to feel like she was part of the water, losing the feeling of her own body while she was focusing so deliberately on just the water. Finally Miranda watched as Logan finally reached Jean and, after saying a few words to her, killed her with his claws. Her powers immediately ceased, so Miranda let the water begin falling back into the ocean. Her body suddenly felt weak, and as she toppled forward off the bridge, blackness clouded her vision and she lost consciousness.

Pete saw Miranda stumble and immediately reacted. He caught her around the waist before she could fall off the bridge and injure herself. He turned her over and called her name, but it was clear she was unconscious. Still carrying John over his shoulder, he cradled Miranda in his other arm and carried both. Dr. McCoy had arranged for one of the military helicopters to take them back to the mansion, though they had to stop at the air force base first to get fuel, and made other stops as well. The X-jet would have been faster but they had all seen Jean destroy it.

Pete had been amazed at Miranda's display of power. He wasn't exactly sure why she'd pulled that water from the ocean and held it up in the air, but he knew she had a reason. The most amazing part was when her entire body had turned into water. He saw it start with her hands and then slowly wrap itself around the rest of her body. It was similar to what had happened to Bobby when he fought John, his whole body turning into ice. It had to be the next step of their mutations. But he wondered if Miranda was aware of what had happened. He guessed that she had been so focused, she wasn't aware of what happened before she lost consciousness.

Looking down again, he couldn't help but smile. Her hair was dripping wet, her face and body smudged with dirt, and the visible parts of her body spotted with cuts and bruises. She looked as beat up as the rest of them, but he still found her beautiful. He couldn't explain it. He was simply drawn to her. He'd set John down on the floor in the helicopter once room became available after the extra soldiers left, but he continued to hold Miranda in his arms. If she woke up before they reached the mansion, he wanted to be the first thing she saw.

When they finally reached the mansion, Pete took Miranda down to the medical room below. Jean had been their primary doctor, the Professor the second most knowledgeable. With both of them gone, he didn't know who would take care of Miranda. It turned out that Dr. McCoy had taken care of that too. He had his own private physician, who worked specifically with mutants, who he called in to check everyone for serious injuries. Dr. McCoy also knew a bit about medicine, his mutation being advanced intelligence, so he also checked people out as best he could. Thankfully no one had any serious injuries. John and Miranda were checked as well, but Pete was told they both just needed rest and they would be fine, albeit sore from their cuts and bruises.

Pete carried Miranda up to her room and gently set her on her bed. He pulled over a chair and sat there all night, still determined to be the first thing she saw when she woke up. He also wanted to be there when she woke up to answer any questions she would have. She would certainly want to know what happened after she blacked out, and if she didn't ask, he would tell her what happened while she was bringing water up out of the ocean. She slept all night and through half the day, but woke up in the late afternoon.

"Pete?" she croaked, her voice betraying her need for water. Pete had thought ahead and had a glass ready for her. Once she'd taken a sip, she spoke again. "What happened?"

Pete explained everything that had taken place since she blacked out. She listened through the whole story, not interrupting until he'd finished talking. Once he was done, she spent a few minutes processing everything he'd told her. Jean was dead, for sure this time, as were so many other people, mutants and humans alike. Magneto had lost his powers, the ultimate punishment for a man like him. Storm was planning another memorial service, this one for Jean and Scott. Their headstones were arriving tomorrow, and the memorial service would be the day after. John was back in Pete's room, Angel having disappeared after following them to Alcatraz and saving his father. He had woken up but hadn't spoken to anyone.

"Miranda?" She turned to look at Pete. "What do you remember about using your powers to pull water from the ocean?"

"I just remember thinking maybe I'd be able to contain some of Jean's power if she tried to reach past the island. That's all I was focused on, and didn't notice how much strength it took until I let go."

"That's all?" She nodded, not sure what he was getting at. "Something else happened while you were so focused. I was watching you, and I saw your entire body turn into water the way Bobby's turned into ice when he fought John. It was amazing." Miranda shook her head at him.

"I turned into water?" It was too much to take in. "How is that possible?"

"I don't know, I just know that's what I saw. I think it might be the next step of your mutation. You told me the Professor told you he thought your mutation wasn't finished yet. Maybe this was what he meant, whether or not he knew what it was."

"I do remember feeling like I was a part of the water, and stopped feeling my body," she told him slowly. She remembered the sensation had started in her hands, and assumed it was because that was where she focused her powers. She told Pete as much.

"It makes sense. Maybe you should talk to Dr. McCoy about it. He knows a lot, and he's decided to stay at the mansion and become one of our teachers." Miranda nodded, thinking maybe she'd talk to him after the memorial service.

Pete offered to bring her dinner up to her so she didn't have to move, and got his own as well. While he was gone, Miranda struggled to get out of bed. Her body was sore and stiff, and she knew she needed to move at least a little to start getting it back to normal again. But she also wanted to talk to John. He hadn't spoken to anyone yet, so maybe he'd talk to her. She found him lying on his bed, throwing a small fireball in his hand. _Still the same old John_, she thought.

"Hey," she said, not having thought ahead of time what she wanted to say. He dropped the fireball on his bed, quickly putting it out but not before scorching his sheets. He looked up at her.

"What do you want?" he asked angrily. She held up her hands, palms forward.

"I come in peace," she said, trying to get him to smile at the cliché phrase. He ignored the remark and continued to glare at her. "What are you going to do now?" she asked, skipping any small talk.

"What do you care?"

"I know it's hard to believe, but I do actually care, John." She sat down in the desk chair across from him, to be at eye level with him and because she lacked the strength to stand any longer. John rolled his eyes at her. "You left and joined Magneto, and we all had our theories, but why don't _you_ tell me why you left."

He stared at her for a minute, trying to figure out what she didn't know, but apparently he decided she wasn't going to leave. "I left because I had nowhere else to go. I was suffocating in this place." He stood up and started pacing around the room, using his hands to gesture as he spoke. "The professor may have been a good guy, but his way wasn't for me. I like action, I like doing something. Magneto let me actually use my powers to fight the people trying to kill us all off. And now I'm back here, with no way to do anything again except go to school and learn my reading, writing, and arithmetic." He sat down and formed another ball of fire. He threw it at the wall, but Miranda put it out before it could scorch anything.

"So you've got a lot of anger in you, big deal," Miranda told him. He looked at her, angry but taken aback. She was sick of his whining about how much his life sucked and how he didn't get to do anything. Well she was going to finally give him a piece of her mind. "Look, I know you think your life sucks, but let me tell you a little about mine. My father killed my brother by driving drunk, and blamed him for my mother's death. He hated me, forgetting to feed me because he'd spend his money on booze and gambling. When he found out I was a mutant, he ignored me completely. My friends at school turned against me and I was threatened and humiliated. So I ran away. I then found a friend who turned out to only be using me to earn money, and the next man I found was a thief who also used my powers to help him. Then he abused me, beat me up, and I ended up killing him because I couldn't control my powers. Your life can't be any worse than mine.

"But then I came here. Professor Xavier let me live here free of charge, helped me work through my past, and helped me learn to control my powers. I made real friends, and learned there were still good people out there. The people here actually care about each other, look out for one another, and have fun together. You never cared about anyone but yourself. You never let anyone get close to you. I know what that's like, and it sucks, but you _can_ let people in. Here, of all places, it's safe to let people get close to you and get to know you. Here, they won't use it against you and exploit your powers. This is a safe place. But you left it for something you thought was better. And what happened? You ended up back here. So the way I see it, you've got two choices: A, you suck it up, dial down your pride and ego, and let us help you and be your friends, or B, continue being a jerk and leave so the rest of us don't have to deal with you causing problems. Personally, I hope you choose option A."

Miranda took a breath and waited for John's response. He was staring at her, not saying a word. It was obvious no one had ever dared talk to him like that before, maybe not even Magneto, though not because the older mutant was scared of John. He seemed to come out of his daze when Pete walked into the room.

"Miranda, what are you doing in here?" Pete asked. Miranda knew John wouldn't answer her question with Pete in the room, so she decided she'd let him think about it and go back to her own room.

"Just talking with John." She stood up and Pete put his arm around her. He led her back to her room where she sank into her bed gratefully. He'd brought her a simple sandwich for dinner, but she ate it and enjoyed it all the same.

"What did you say to John? I only caught the end of what you said, something about choices to stay or go."

"He was being his old self again, and I was fed up. So I just gave him a piece of my mind, that's all. I'm hoping something I said will sink in."

Pete stayed up talking with her for awhile before finally leaving so she would go to sleep. It was weird having the room to herself. It reminded her of the time she'd almost killed Rogue and she'd stayed with Kitty because she was so freaked out. Miranda hoped she would return.


	19. Chapter 19

AN: Hey everyone! As this is the last chapter of Troubled Water, I wanted to take the time to thank my most faithful reviewers (reviewing more than once), as it means so much to me having them: TristeAlma, Certh, FrogDisease, I Don't Bite-much, Bright-Eyed Athena, and jackiez32. To those who reviewed once, or favorited my story, or added it to your alert list, I thank you as well. Hope you all enjoy the final installment in my story and review it one last time!

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The memorial service was nice. Not as many people showed up as for the Professor, but Miranda didn't think that was too surprising. Jean and Scott were still young when they died, and hadn't spent as much time away from the mansion as the Professor had. She said a few words again, mostly about Jean, but she did say Scott was always patient with her until she became comfortable with him. It was true. She admired how patient he'd been when it took her so long to get over her aversion to him, and only because he was a man. They had flowers again, and she set them down as she did before. When she returned to her room to change into more comfortable clothes, she got a surprise.

"Rogue!" She immediately rushed over to the girl and gave her a big hug. It was only after they separated that she noticed the other girl wasn't wearing gloves.

"Yes, I got the 'cure'," she told Miranda, knowing the question without being asked.

"Why?" Miranda asked, wanting her friend to explain in her own words. They sat down on Miranda's bed while Rogue spoke.

"I needed to. I was hurting because of my powers. It wasn't Bobby's fault, or anyone else's. I need to be able to touch people though and not have to worry about killing them. Like just now, if I still had my powers, I would have taken some of your powers and you'd been weaker. I couldn't take it anymore." Miranda hugged her friend again.

"I'm sorry you felt you needed the 'cure'," Miranda said, being honest, "but I'm also happy you came back. Have you seen Bobby yet?" Rogue shook her head.

Rogue spent the next hour telling Miranda where she'd been. She'd taken a bus to one of the clinics father away, so Bobby wouldn't find her and try to bring her back. There had been many mutants there to get the 'cure', and after an attack from John they had to move the facility, which made it take even longer. Finally she took it. They had all the mutants stay overnight in the facility to make sure there were no serious side effects, and the next day she began her trip back. It had taken her awhile, having to hitchhike because she'd spent all her money on the way over, but she finally made it back. Miranda then told her about everything that had happened since she left. Rogue was surprised to hear that John was back, and even more surprised when Miranda told her what she'd told him.

"You actually said all that to him?" Rogue said with a smile, trying to imagine her friend yelling at John.

"I did. I really hope something sinks in, because I do want him to stay. I think once he gets past his anger, he could be a real help to us in the mansion. Maybe he could start running Danger Room sessions with some of the students who are getting older." Both girls laughed at the image of John acting as a teacher.

"Rogue?" Both girls turned to find Pete standing in the doorway. Rogue got up and gave him a hug. "You're back?" Rogue nodded. "Will you stay?" Rogue started to nod, then stopped. Would she be allowed to stay, or would she be sent home?

"I hope so," she finally said. Pete smiled.

"Miranda, Storm wants to talk to you."

"Don't disappear on me Rogue," Miranda told the other girl before leaving. Rogue promised she wouldn't.

Miranda found Storm sitting in the Professor's office. "You wanted to see me?" she asked as she sat down.

"Yes. I have a question for you. How would you feel about helping me run Danger Room sessions with some of the other students? There are a few now who are getting old enough to start the basics, and I need help. I can't run the sessions on my own."

"Me?" Miranda couldn't believe she was being asked the question she'd jokingly thought would be asked of John only moments ago.

"You've improved significantly since coming to the mansion. You're a strong fighter, you demonstrated that at Alcatraz, and I know you're good with the other students. You've proven that on numerous occasions. What do you think?"

"I don't think I'm ready," she said honestly. "I mean, I'd love to help, don't get me wrong, but are you sure I'm the right person for this? Pete helped me a lot, maybe he'd be better for it. And what about Logan? Or Dr. McCoy? Wouldn't they be better, being adults?"

"Miranda, I've asked all those people for their help already. All have agreed, but you know how things come up. You never had the same instructors every time, did you?" Miranda shook her head. Storm walked over and sat down next to Miranda. "I know you don't feel ready, and I'll give you all the time you need, but I think you could really help the students learn how to use their powers to defend themselves and others. You know how important that is by now." Miranda nodded.

"I'll think about it, okay?" Storm smiled and nodded.

"That's all I'm asking right now."

"Storm, did you know Rogue's back?" Storm shook her head. "She got back today during the memorial service. Will she be allowed to stay in the mansion?" Storm thought for a moment.

"I don't know Miranda," she told the girl. "She's not a mutant anymore, but I also know her home situation wouldn't be easy to return to after what happened. I'll think about it, but for now she can stay."

"Thank you!"

Miranda gave Storm a hug and raced out of the room to tell Rogue the good news. She had a feeling Storm would let her stay, since she couldn't really go home and had nowhere else to go. When she reached her room, she saw Bobby and Rogue sitting and talked. They looked up when she arrived, but she just smiled and kept walking. It was important for them to talk about things. Instead, she headed down the hall to see if she could find Pete.

"Miranda!" She turned around and saw John coming out of his room towards her.

"John?"

"Hey, want to take a walk?" She nodded and followed him outside. It wasn't like him to take walks, especially with her. She wondered what was on his mind.

"I thought about what you said," he said gruffly, obviously uncomfortable with talking to her about his thoughts. She waited for him to continue. "I guess you're right," he finally told her. She tried to hide her smile. "Maybe I have only been thinking of me, but you don't know my history either. My parents kicked me out when they found out I was a mutant, and I was homeless for over a year before the Professor found me. I had a rough time of it too, so you're not the only one with a hard past. Still, you're right that it's no excuse for me to . . . to take out my anger on everyone else. Maybe I should have let the Professor help me, but it's a little late for that now."

"So does this mean you'll be staying?" she asked after he'd been silent for a minute.

"Yeah, but don't expect me to change overnight," he told her, sounding like the old John. Knowing he'd hate it, she still threw her arms around him and gave him a big hug. It caught him off guard, and he didn't hug her back, but she was pleased when he didn't immediately throw her off either.

"Trying to steal my girl, John?" Pete asked from behind them. Miranda stopped hugging John and turned around. Pete was standing with hands on hips, staring at them with a smile on his face.

"Nah, she's not my type," John said. He gave Pete a small nod and walked off.

"So what was that all about?" Pete asked, taking John's place next to her.

"John's decided to stay, that's all." She gave him a big smile and wrapped her arms around him.

"I'm glad you could convince him. What did Storm want earlier?"

"Oh, she asked me to help out with Danger Room sessions. She also said she'd asked you too." She looked up.

"Yes, and I agreed. What did you say?"

"I told her I'd think about it. I don't know that I know enough to try and teach other students."

"So you learn with them, there's nothing wrong with that."

"Who said anything about needing to learn? I only said I didn't know about teaching them. I don't need to learn anything else." She gave him a playful smile.

"I think there's plenty more you still need to learn." He pulled her close.

"Oh, like what?"

Pete said nothing. The playful smile had been replaced by an intent look on his face. He was leaning towards her, and she naturally leaned towards him. Before she knew what had happened, they were kissing. The image of Murphy rose up in her mind, and she almost pulled away from Pete, but she pushed the image aside, knowing he was part of her past and Pete was most definitely going to be part of her future. When they separated, they said nothing but kept looking at each other.

"I guess there _are_ still things I need to learn," Miranda said, and kissed him again.

The End


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